Echoes of the Past
by Blue Lone Wolf 2574
Summary: Coauthored with kenokosan (give credit where it's due) Two freelancers, an ex-Alliance soldier with secrets and a banished quarian with a pain-filled past, find themselves neck deep in a plot against a matriarch that leads them down their dark roads in search of the culprit. Can they survive long enough to get answers? Rated T to be safe, disclaimer included
1. Chapter 1: Shuttle Ride

Greetings all and welcome to my coauthor with the talented Kenokosan, who I met on DA and started this nifty idea of our OCs causing havoc in the ME universe. Here's but a taste of our labors! Neither I nor Keno-chan own ME or its characters but all OCs in this fic are ours respectfully. This fic is rated T for future content, though the rating may change. Enjoy!

"Iii" = speech

"_Iii_" = radio speech

'_Iii_' = text speech

_Iii _= thought

Chapter 1: Shuttle Ride

Terri Ceallach shifted her shoulder against the rough padding on her Viper sniper rifle as she gazed down at her blue and white clad targets. As a freelancer, Terri took a certain pride in killing off the less-than-honorable competition. Especially if they were proven terrorists, pirates or straight up slavers. In this case, as it was almost always, batarians. The ugly as hell aliens that wandered to and fro between her crosshairs often spoke of being superior and a lost golden age, along with how slavery was part of their caste system, thus vital to their society. All it did was remind Terri of a disturbing mix of medieval times if Hitler was around to run things. If nothing else, the arrogant morons had the audacity to say her species were unclean and preyed on Alliance or independent human colonies like it was a free-for-all. Such things put a bad taste in her mouth, making the timing when she finally pulled the trigger on the unsuspecting Blue Suns mercenary all the more satisfying. The silenced shot cut through the warm air of the unnamed planet they both habituated, the batarian only temporary as his now lifeless body slumped on the catwalk he'd been patrolling. His heavy corpse must've made a noise since the two guards at the door froze and looked up at where their friend had just been, causing Terri to bring her attention to them in turn, two quick shots dispatching the other batarian and his turian partner with little chance to get on their comms for help. Killing the turian made Terri's heart clench in a fleeting moment of pity and regret. Given she respected turians in spite of their actions during the First Contact War, the fact she had to kill one meant he was a disgrace to his people and his death likely relieved whatever dishonor his family felt over his choice of profession. Still the human woman didn't dwell on it, holstering her rifle as she activated her omni-tool to speak quietly though she was the only person on the wooded hill she'd positions herself on, her lazy curl bangs of brown hair shifting in the light breeze passing her by. "Moreh, you in position?"

From the device in her ear, a clear female voice with a lilted accent answered her query as a thin form jogged to the now unguarded door below. "_Almost. Thanks for getting the two by the door. You always were a great shot._"

"Were?" Terri asked, mock anger coming into her voice as she calmly weaved between rocks and trees, ignoring the bodies of the patrol she'd left for the varren to eat later if at all. The scents of the forest helped mask the stink of blood from her sensitive nose as she moved down the hill. The shadows the trees provided were reassuring as they helped with her light armor's navy blue paint to blend in as she descended. What little wind that weaved through the tall plants messed with her low tail of hair, making a number of the strands to fall onto her shoulder.

"_Better than 'was'. How soon can you get down here?_" her companion asked, her distant form vanishing into the facility a few hundred yards away.

"Soon enough, I'm already on my way. Anything on cameras?" Terri asked, knowing the quarian had dealt with such obstacles but felt better when she inquired about them.

Moreh's voice seemed confident through the projected echo of her voice through the radio linking them. "_They don't seem to have noticed that I've hacked them, or that their friends are dead so we're off to a good start._"

"Good, just means blowing this place sky high will be even more entertaining." Terri remarked with a bit of morbid glee, grinning in the dim sunlight at the prospect of wiping another mercenary outpost off the galaxy map.

"_What is with you and explosives?_" Moreh asked, sounding a bit appalled with the human woman's response.

Terri shrugged as she finally sprinted for the door, barely needing to breath hard as she stopped long enough for the sensor to let her in. "It's a human thing: if all else fails, blow it up." she stated casually. "It's also why we're kinda trigger-happy. Kill the enemy before he kills you." The brunette woman told her friend, activating her cloak before passing through the threshold of the outpost.

Moreh didn't answer right away, likely unsure of what to say. "_That's more disturbing than I'm about to admit right now. Alright, I'm almost at the command center. I hope you're ready on your end._"

"Just as long as I don't have to go into the ducts again, like last time. You know how I feel about dust and small spaces Moreh. They tend to make me irritated." Terri responded, moving through the halls with more confidence than most in her situation. Having turned her cloak on, the tiny piece of tech made her but a glimmer of shifting light as she half walked, half marched to her destination.

"_Is there anything that doesn't make you irritated?_" the quarian asked, sounding a bit irritated at the human's statement. In the background, Terri's sensitive ears picked up on an explosion and a few cries of pain followed by gunshots. Proof her friend had taken the command center with little effort, cutting off the whole base from some of its leaders.

Taking the other woman's words in stride, Terri shrugged to herself, not bothering to speak in low tones in case someone was around. Which they weren't. "Food, preferably human that's been made correctly. Sometimes classical music when I'm feeling nostalgic."

"_Over what?_" Moreh almost demanded, perplexed by where their conversation was going.

Terri simply chuckled wickedly. "That would be telling."

"_Just get to the storage area you bosh'tet._" The quarian growled, less than pleased by the cryptic answer.

"Yes ma'am." Terri muttered with a snicker. On the mental scoreboard in her head, Terri gave herself a new point.

Moreh didn't speak for a moment or two, her voice cutting through the comfortable quiet Terri had fallen into. "_Where are you? I can't see you on any of the cameras._"

"I've got my cloak on."

"_What? You finally fixed it?_" Moreh exclaimed in her surprise. She'd known the human had one and had been tinkering with it, claiming there was some kind of power issue but refused to let her look at it. The fact her human companion finally got the tech to work was news to her.

"Fuck, I hope so or I'm about to get shot to hell. Again." Terri grumbled. "No worries Moreh, I'll have you look at it when I get truly desperate for a patch up job."

"_I'm glad you have such confidence in my skills._" Moreh deadpanned.

Terri snickered in response before finally becoming serious. "Are you sure your guy gave us good intel? We have been giving these guys the bizz since well… a while ago. They can't be too happy to know they're gonna lose another base."

"_Trust me, my source always gives good information. Besides, who else could've gotten you that visor?_" Moreh responded, the quarian woman sounding oddly smug.

Though she was alone, and technically invisible, Terri blinked as she remembered the hard to acquire item she had in storage back in their shuttle. "Oh really? I guess someone does have some honor after all. Remind me to give him a big wet one if I ever meet him. Getting a mnemonic visor after sales is harder than it sounds. I know, I tried and I wasn't pleased when I failed."

"_I'll try to warn him before you molest him like a drunken asari._" Moreh said with an amused chuckle.

From where she was, Terri rolled her eyes, choosing then to change the subject, pausing only to kill a guard between her and her destination. Snapping his neck and stuffing him into a closet took but a moment as she spoke. "Speaking of asari, didn't your aunt send you an email? It's been a while since you heard from her."

"_Are we really talking about this now? We're working!_" Moreh exclaimed, her tone suggesting she was nervous all of a sudden. That only happened if the quarian was under serious pressure…or she didn't want to talk about something.

Terri wasn't about to take pity on her. "So? This is a secure channel and the idle chatter helps keep me focused sometimes. Besides, even you should know that humans can be highly social. We live in the now, not yesterday or tomorrow."

The line was quiet for a few moments but Terri waited, calm and patient just like how Moreh was with her when she was finally goaded into saying something. Eventually the quarian answered. "_She wants me to come see her. She's watching Nikolai while her parents are on honeymoon._"

"I'm sensing a 'but' coming." Terri muttered, working on the last door to her objective.

She didn't need to see her to know the quarian was probably shifting uncomfortably where she stood. "_Yes, well…I told her I might bring a friend and she said it was fine just as long as I came over rather than staying away longer than I normally do._"

"How long is normal?"

"_A few months, depending on the job. You'll be glad to know that I was very vague in describing you_." Moreh admitted, sounding unsure of how her friend would react.

Killing another unwitting guard and dragging him behind a stack of boxes, Terri kept her voice fairly casual. "I appreciate that. I'm still getting nervous vibes though. Worried I'll make a bad first impression?"

"_W-well no, I mean yes, wait no!_" Moreh declared, a heavy sigh coming over the comm. line. "_I don't know at this point._"

"Either way, some R&R would be good for once. Where are we vacationing?"

"_Nos Astra on Illium. She works from her apartment sometimes so that makes looking after the baby all the easier._"

This information gave Terri pause. She had mixed memories of the asari world, very few of them good. She also knew better than to tell her friend 'no' and go her own way for however long the quarian was planning on staying there. Hacking the final door with the code she'd gotten from her last kill distracted her for a moment to come up with a proper response. Eventually she managed an amused tone. "Illium huh? Haven't been there in a while. I'm up for it if you are." Slipping in as soon as the door opened, Terri positioned herself so to examine the main floor of the large room, scowling upon seeing it almost jam-packed with maybe half a platoon. "Found the storage area but it's packed with mercs. They're not acting like pissed off jackasses so I'm guessing we're still good to go. What now?"

"_Alright, you need to see what kind of encryption they have on the door before you hack it open. Best to stay under the radar until we have no choice._"

"Good enough for me. You get shot, you get sick. I get shot, well…we both know how that usually ends." Terri muttered with a grim tone.

Moreh knew quite well what her friend was talking about and loathed to see the human go into her almost primal rages when the shooting started. Though she still wasn't quite sure how her human compatriot came to be the way she was, and Terri was less than forthcoming on answers, Moreh knew better to stick around. Terri was like a krogan in a blood rage when their enemies used her for target practice, most never living to regret it. "_I'll duck under a table if you decide to throw anything larger than either of us._"

Terri frowned. "Do you really have to say it like that?" she asked, trying not to sound hurt though she knew her friend was joking. True, she could get out of hand in her rages but even then she did her best to be careful. "At the very least admit you want to run for the door in case I crush the table. You know I wouldn't hurt you on purpose, Moreh."

"_I know, just know that if things get bad, that's where I'll be._" The quarian returned, knowing it was a touchy subject for the human. She'd learned the hard way what happened when Terri was angered and how remorseful she'd been when Moreh had somehow ended up in her crosshairs during the violent outburst. Moreh was surprised that incident alone didn't make the human run for the hills.

"Yes, let's hide under a piece of furniture like a child. I don't recall us being in San Francisco." The human retorted curtly as she stood in front of the door, thankfully out of view of the numerous batarians wandering around.

"_Where?_" Moreh asked, her voice hinting at her bafflement at the statement.

_I really need to stop making human references._ Terri thought in frustration. "Never mind. I've almost got the lock. Be ready." She warned as the door finally opened, ice blue eyes quickly scanning the towers of boxes with unnatural precision. What they wanted was small, thankfully, since taking a huge crate out of the small space in front of a who-knew how many mercs wouldn't end well for her. As much as she wanted to just have a free-for-all in killing them all but her fighting style called for up close and personal, taking down stubborn targets with the Paladin heavy pistol she'd 'found'. Anyone else she took down with her Viper, both weapons modded with shredder rounds to unleash the most damage on her targets. Everything else, she did with her bare hands, and not because she was a biotic. Oh no, she was something much worse: the gene therapy had been oddly painless but was mostly guaranteed to be flushed from her body if it didn't work to avoid any ill-effects. If anything, the modding of her DNA had done its job beautifully but at a price: unlike before the therapy, Terri was easier to anger, certain senses would sometimes flare up, making things distorted and her hands would shake like a drug addict coming down from his high. Same as any biotic, her need to eat was heightened as well though not for the same reason. Any medigel they picked up, Terri just gave to Moreh, knowing the quarian needed it more than her, only needing the miraculous goo for the worst of her injuries which were usually burns or severe damage only an explosive could cause. Everything else just healed up by itself. Sure, it hurt like a bitch and any meds she took to dull the pain were just metabolized almost too fast to work, but in the end it was worth the fleeting agony.

The only real drawback Terri could think of was she could no longer get drunk. Granted she never drank before her experimental therapy but when her world had been turned on its head, the human sought out the nearest bar and ordered the tallest one they had. It took almost five of said drinks before she was remotely buzzed, the earliest stage of drunkenness gone before she even made it to the street corner to catch a sky cab back to her apartment. Terri only ended up more determined to find a means of getting at least somewhat wasted but wasn't about to turn to drugs. Instead she investigated whatever alien beverages that were safe for her to ingest, what few dextro-beers or drinks she consumed had her barfing in the unisex bathroom in just five minutes alone. The rest didn't even make a dent except a full bladder. It was like her liver was working overtime just to spite her! Still, Terri knew better than to keep trying and on her way to her crappy rental on the Citadel, some jackass krogan pushed her into a Keeper. The human had cursed a storm at both the krogan and the turian C-Sec officer who'd come to arrest her instead of the krogan, forced to spend a night in jail. Exactly where she met Moreh, the quarian in black and grey coughing up a storm from police abuse.

Not even a week later, Terri was saving the quarian from another officer, whom she gave a stern reminder of the many laws he was violating in harassing the alien girl before nearly beating him bloody when he protested. She felt no pity for the turian when she broke many a plate teaching him not to use his position over others unjustly. Her new companion had just stood by in awe at the spectacle before letting the human drag her away, only nodding when Terri told her they were sticking together from then on before stepping onto the freighter to a nearby colony. That had been roughly a year earlier, making Terri think maybe her intervention prevented the quarian from seeing her aunt as planned so many months ago. Guilt hit her like a rock at the knowledge she'd interrupted their biannual reunion with her unwitting meddling. Her eyes fell on the object of her search, distracting Terri from her brief lamenting to exclaiming in her sudden glee. "Found it!"

Moreh's equally excited voice filled her ear. "_You did? Keelah, I thought that would take forever._" The quarian admitted before asking. "_Now, can you leave with it?_"

"While cloaked? Maybe. Hold on." Terri said, moving to pick up the box to see if her cloak would absorb it into its field. Instead it flickered and shut off. Were there a camera, there was no doubt Moreh would've seen her appear. Growling low in her throat, Terri kept her ire under control. "Shit. No, looks like we're doing this the old fashioned way."

"_Which is?_"

"Giving them something to focus on so I can cut for the door. All the guards should be out of the halls but damn near all of them are in the main storage floor. Maybe fake a power issue or a fire that the systems can't handle." Terri suggested, already working on getting her cloak back on, finding that though she'd fixed the power issues she'd always had with the damn thing, it was still charging. There was no time to adjust the program to include the box, roughly the size of a couch cushion but thankfully had a handle on the side so one could carry it like a suitcase. Since there were four handles, Terri had to figure that it weighed more than she thought, her muscles barely straining to lift the case.

"_It's really disturbing what you think of. I can do that._" The quarian's voice admitted as Terri headed for the door.

"Good, let me know."

"_Oh you'll know. The alarm will certainly be loud enough._" Moreh warned, making Terri groan. In the year they'd been working together, she'd made sure the quarian knew her senses were more… receptive than the average human's.

"I'm not gonna like this am I?" Terri asked in pre-chaos misery.

"_Not really, no._" the quarian told her, regret evident in her tone.

Terri grit her teeth, gloved hand pulling at a pouch on her hip to pull out the recon hood she kept at hand, knowing the thick fabric would partially shield her from the outpost's potentially deafening alarm system. Moreh must've been waiting for her to get it on when her voice sounded off again once Terri finished adjusting it around her face and neck. No point in wearing something if it felt weird having it on. "_You ready?_"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Terri muttered, hating the noise before it was even activated.

Moreh's voice was all the warning she had. "_Here goes._"

As the alarm kicked on, as well as the emergency lights, Terri was glad she'd put the hood on: her anticipation of the noise and it's actual volume did weird things to her perception for a few seconds, readjusting in time to find that all the mercs in the room with her were too busy demanding to know what was wrong to notice her. In a few quick strides, Terri was out of the small storage unit and back in the corridor, passing the closet where she'd stuffed the body of her latest victim as she followed her path in reverse. Anyone she met on their way to wherever they were trying to get to was shot in the head, Terri not even bothering to glance at exactly who so long as they were wearing blue and white and weren't quarian, she didn't much care. One merc, a rather small looking human man tried to raise his hands and surrender, his high pitched protests cut off before they could start. She didn't even need to switch out the heat sink by the time she got back outside, Moreh already on her way toward where they'd landed. Somehow, the quarian's slim form and dark clothing was just visible against the shadows of the forest cast by the slowly setting sun in the distance. Her mask, also as dark as her suit, made it easy to see her glowing orbs of white and sometimes the tip of her almost human-like nose. Many a time Terri had wondered what her friend looked like but knew better than to ask. Jogging after the quarian, Terri called out to her. "You get everything?"

Moreh nodded as she paused to let her human friend catch up with her. "Yes, even copies of their files for later. We can sell it for quite a price to C-Sec or the Alliance."

"Anyone but the Shadow Broker. That guy creeps me out." Terri grumbled, switching the case from one hand to the other to relieve the ache that was growing in her shoulder.

"Even though no one's ever met him?" Moreh asked, pausing to add. "Or her?"

"Just know I don't trust him/her/it. Someone like that only looks out for themselves and little else." Terri snarled, pulling off her recon hood to curl her lip in irritation.

"Like you used to?"

Terri didn't answer immediately. After a moment she shrugged. "I still do that, I'm just more conscious of some odd thing called 'collateral damage'. Annoying thing really. That and this really irritating alien girl I can't seem to leave alone for five damn minutes before she steps on another land mine."

"Keep talking bosh'tet, see where it gets you." Moreh said with a chuckle, unable to take offense to the statement.

"A nap and a chicken sandwich?" Terri asked, sounding hopeful.

"I'll see what I can do." The quarian assented, jumping slightly as she declared. "Oh, and I almost forgot." She said, activating her omni-tool to fiddle with it a moment.

Behind them, the Blue Suns outpost shook as explosions rocked the man-made buildings, fire pluming along with smoke as alarms went off like banshees loud enough to send nearby birds flying off. Next to her, Terri was grinning and laughing as if gripped by a strange sense of insanity, her eyes alight with excitement. "Haha! Fireworks! Moreh, you spoil me."

"I try." Moreh snickered at the human's odd display of delight. "C'mon, we need to move before any survivors come looking for us."

"See you in hell assholes!" Terri crowed happily, cackling almost madly as they bolted into the trees like bandits in the night, which they technically were. Only the box they'd worked so hard to retrieve held evidence of a certain Blue Sun captain's guilt in an almost two-year case on a major hub world, the prosecution paying top dollar for anything proving the corrupt human's involvement. Terri was sure Moreh would be pleased to know their destination was just a hop, skip and jump from Illium.

Moreh sat at the holographic controls of their shuttle as Terri lay on one of the benches in the compartment behind her, her soft breathing filling the quiet of the space. Due to their evolution and their longer hours, humans required more sleep than other aliens, making Terri's extended nap typical of their routine. By comparison, humans probably worked just as hard as quarians when others would take breaks or just quit for the day. As unpredictable as the human she traveled with could be, Moreh wasn't about to trade a day for anything. For some reason, the woman brought some adventure into her life but also, oddly enough, stability. Having been cast out of the fleet by her own father, Moreh had depended on her skills and her asari aunt to get by along with what few friends she had left. Then…Terri came. Accident or fate, call it what you will. Moreh couldn't explain it either, unable to find a reason to part company with the alien sleeping away their journey until it was her turn to take the helm. Sure the human was rather…uncouth at times but made up for it with her puzzling insight and peculiar acts of kindness towards Moreh and others. When Terri had learned Moreh's birthday was coming up, the human had merely nodded thoughtfully at this information but said nothing. Instead, Moreh spent nearly two weeks wondering what the human woman would do, since she knew that the day of one's birth among humanity was considered a fairly important affair. When the day finally arrived, Moreh felt pangs of surprise and disappointment to find the human had done nothing remotely like she'd heard humans would do. The shuttle they practically lived in was still the same and the human was nowhere to be found anywhere. On top of that, there was a new box situated on one of the benches that she'd never seen before and, unsure of what else to do, moved to open it.

To her shock, inside were tubes of flavored paste that she remembered seeing but never had the money or the time to try. Once she recovered from her awe, Moreh noticed a datapad sitting on the bench next to it with a message on the screen which read:

'_Hey Moreh,_

_Hope you like the paste I got you. It wasn't easy to get but worth it if it's better than that turian crap you've been eating this whole time. As I'm sure you're wondering where I am, it's to give you some…alone time with your gift. Just save some for later okay? I'd rather not learn what quarian barf smells like._

_Best wishes,_

_Terri_'

Moreh could only stand there, caught between laughter and tears at both the note and her friend's gift. Once she decided to laugh before breaking down into hiccupped crying, Moreh sat by the box of paste rations for maybe an hour before Terri finally returned. Once the human stepped through the door, the metal door was barely closed before the quarian was draped over her in a tight hug that had the human wide-eyed and gasping.

"Damn Moreh! Did you eat them all already?" she asked as the quarian gripped her tightly enough to crush ribs, ice blue eyes glancing between her friend and the box.

"I haven't had any of them! I just had to thank you! Thank you!" Moreh exclaimed, her voice shaky with tears.

"Okay, okay! You thanked me! Now let go!" Terri tried not to snarl, her mind conflicted between enjoying the contact of another person while hating the touch at the same time.

Finally pulling back, Moreh sniffed loudly from beneath her mask. "Sorry, I just…I just can't believe you'd do that for me."

"It's what friends do. Just as long as you don't hug me like that…ever, ever again." Terri warned, having gone as far as backing off a step in case the quarian tried for a second go.

"I'll do my best." Moreh promised weakly, too pleased with her gift to say much else.

"Now you gonna eat one of those or not? Cuz believe it or not, anything they have here tastes kinda like cardboard. I know, I was dumb enough to try." The human remarked, keeping some of her irritation out of her voice so not to upset the quarian.

Moreh blinked. "Then why didn't you stay here?"

"Because I know you and flavored paste! It's like you're having sex with it." she declared, her face twisting as if in disgust at the thought.

Under her mask, Moreh was blushing madly. "I do not!"

"Not from those rather…loud moaning you make when you eat it. Speaking of which, we need to soundproof the shuttle it you're going to be making out with a tube of that stuff." Terri stated with a wry smile.

"Bosh'tet!" Moreh growled, punching Terri in the arm, making the human flinch as she laughed at her alien friend.

"What!? Can't handle the truth can you?" she asked through her chuckles, making the quarian throw her arms up in frustration.

"Arrgh!"

Like all their interactions, they soon got to arguing before ending up laughing at some point over how ridiculous the conversation had become. After Terri had gone to the cockpit to take off, Moreh finally took up the courage to try one of the tubes of flavored paste. Making sure both her port and the tube were clean, Moreh smiled like a fool from behind her mask when her first taste made her tongue explode before her suit speakers released her guttural moan of delight at the sensation. From the cockpit, Terri yelled. "Get a room!"

"Up yours!" Moreh shouted prior to having another taste, inciting another moan.

"You first!" Terri called back, cackling when Moreh started cursing.

That had all been months ago and now according to the nav computer, Terri must've put in the coordinates for Illium for after they drop their cargo off. For an overly blunt and tactless human, Terri was probably the nicest she'd ever met, fighting down tears of joy at seeing her aunt again. Leaving the console on autopilot after getting them through the mass relay, Moreh decided to listen to some of her favorite human music to pass the time, keeping it low in case the noise woke Terri. It was a long ride to Illium.

And there we have it! like it? stick around for monthly updates and be sure to review with your thoughts on how we did. We'd love to hear from you! In the meantime, here's something to whet your whistles:

Next chapter:

Chapter 2: Illium Blues

Our girls have arrived and immediately get into trouble in a security detail gone haywire, sparking a chase that sends them across the galaxy in search of answers, kicking up old hurts, revealing lost secrets and sticking them right in the middle of an oncoming war with the Reapers. Can our double trouble duo stay alive long enough to finish their job? Or is it just one last ride to remember? Find out when '_Echoes of the Past_' returns with:

_**Chapter 2: Illium Blues!**_


	2. Chapter 2: Illium Blues

Hey guys! Blue here for the monthly posting of '_Echoes of the Past_'! We got quite a bit of attention for the prologue so hopefully you guys will enjoy its continuation even more. Kenoko-chan and I are hard at work on later chapters so don't worry about us falling behind just yet. We have a lot planned so be ready for lots of action, suspense and maybe some romance too. Enjoy!

"Iii" = speech

_Iii_ = thought

"_Iii_" = radio speech

Chapter 2: Illium Blues

Getting through the port authority of Nos Astra on Illium took less time than usual thanks to Moreh's aunt Elena, the asari promising to meet them at the docking areas. Pulling them into their new parking spot, Terri knew this was to see Moreh rather than try and get a glimpse of her mysterious traveling companion. Since the Alliance, Terri avoided people as much as she could, only bothering to approach anyone unless she needed something or it was for work. Now that she had Moreh as a buffer, the most she had to do was confer with the quarian on whether what they wanted was right for them or to make sure no one tried anything to skimp on the deal. That or to make sure she didn't get mugged or worse. When they both emerged from the shuttle to stand in the setting Illium sun, Terri was in jeans, sneakers and a t-shirt with a jean jacket she'd made herself while Moreh had her best veil and scarf on. After meeting the almost infamous Elena at the space docks, and her baby sister Nikolai for whom she was caring for while her mother and her quarian bondmate were off on honeymoon, Terri made a quick exit toward the markets. She never liked asari and just being in close proximity to one made her edgy, especially the way the woman's earthy brown eyes seemed to glare at her for even being near Moreh. Unsure of what to do, Terri made a quick exit, acting as if she didn't care and barely acknowledging the woman and the baby in her arms as she headed down the street. She knew Moreh would cover for her as she scanned the courtyard for a viable tech kiosk since it was still early to head to a store for food. After some meandering she found one that was open, making a b-line for the holographic console in the hopes of seeing something she would like. Halfway there, the edges of her senses went off in alarm as something brushed past her, making her turn and grab the passerby with a firm grip like a steel vice. She wasn't all that surprised to see a rather young looking drell holding what looked suspiciously like her credit chit between his human-like fingers.

Annoyed, Terri tightened her fingers around his wrist as she glared into his large eyes of ebony and what looked like a sandy brown. "You need somethin' hon? Or do you just like snitching other people's things for kicks?"

"My apologies. Allow me to return this. Y-you must've dropped it." the drell, a pale-green faced male with darker green scales covering his head and neck said nervously. Same as any prey animal caught in the sights of a predator.

Rolling her ice blue eyes, Terri only glared. "Uh-huh. That's believable." She growled as she took the chit back, her eyes like shards of winter as she snarled. "You come near me and try that shit again, the hand comes off. Got me?"

"Y-yes." The drell managed past the fear he couldn't help but show.

"Good. And tell your friends too. Caen'll know what I'm talkin' about."

The drell had the sense to try and play dumb, though his stiff shoulders and lack of eye contact gave him away. "Who is-?"

"Don't act dumb. You drell are terrible liars." Terri grit from between her clenched teeth, making the drell cower. "Tell him or I track you down and take both your hunky arms instead."

"I understand, I'll tell him!" he said, desperate to get away now, his husky voice high with fear and panic.

"Good, now scram." Terri bit out, shoving the now scrambling alien away. Turning to go on her way, she found she had a small audience who were staring at her as if she were some kind of odd phenomenon. Curling her lip in irritation, she growled at them too. "You got a problem?"

The crowd of asari, volus and salarians quickly looked away, not about to approach the volatile human after what they just saw. Walking away with a loud huff, Terri made it to the kiosk to be greeted by the asari assistant who was dressed in her company's uniform. She smiled in spite of the drops of fear in her dark eyes. "Good afternoon ma'am. Having a good day?"

Having looked directly at the kiosk's display first, Terri glanced at the woman, who flinched minutely before looking away again. "Hm, nice recovery. Explains why you're not indentured or dead. Anything good listed today?"

Blinking at her response, the asari recovered quickly enough to answer the question posed to her. "We have a variety of items on sale as well as our top of the line merchandise, all available through the kiosk. My role is to assist in using the kiosk or if you have any questions about our products." When Terri didn't respond, the asari dared to add. "You weren't going to kill that man were you?"

"Only if he pulled a gun, lucky for him he didn't have one. Your use of idle chit-chat is good for humans, especially the emotionally unstable ones. I trust your biotics are good enough to keep the creeps off right?" Terri asked, sincere enough to show she was listening but absent enough to show she wasn't expecting an answer.

"I practice regularly but I'm not exactly a commando…." The asari responded shyly, unsure of where this conversation was going.

"Then don't let them know that. The less anyone knows, the more likely they're going to guess what you can do. Keeps you alive." Terri warned, backing away from the kiosk as the display agreed to her choices. "These items are sufficient. Can you have them delivered to this ship sometime today?" she asked, activating her omni-tool to send the data to the asari.

Checking and rechecking all the information, the asari gave her a charming smile, as if truly pleased with their interaction. "My company can check the warehouses but most of these are well in stock and should be ready by noon. Did you need anything else?"

"Yes, if a quarian named Moreh comes looking, tell her I'll be at Eternity. Most of the stuff I just bought is for both of us but if she buys anything pricey, let me know. Not about to be blamed for our budget issues." Terri grumbled, her irritation coming back to disturb the calm atmosphere again.

True to her station, the asari nodded, waving as Terri moved to leave. "I understand. Have a good day, ma'am."

"Try not to get molested…or worse." She called back, pausing to add. "Oh and uh… next you're on break, try to hide that pistol you've got tucked into your suit better. Can't exactly draw first if they know where it's at."

The asari's pale blue face darkened with a navy blue blush before nodding. "I'll keep that in mind."

She wandered for an hour or so, poking her head into different shops and scanning listings at kiosks before giving up on anything meant for humans. _You'd think they'd cater to humans somewhere on this shithole! Same as last time, damn bitches._ She thought in irritation, scowling when a vendor tried to convince her to buy something from his stall. Like most faced with her glare, he cowered, he and several others at similar stalls taking the hint. At that, Terri didn't bother waiting for anything else, slipping through the crowds toward the staircase leading to the bar, the techno music a steady beat that she heard sooner than most. As soon as the door opened for her, her sensitive faculties were assaulted by the sounds, colors and smells of the place but quickly adjusted to the shift in atmosphere. It was bad enough some dark-suited quarian was speaking rather haughtily to a turian who was clearly attracted to her but clearly didn't have the nerve to tell her. Also ignoring the rather racist, if not sexist, conversation between a human male and his two alien companions about the dancer striking some very interesting poses on their table. Restraint kept her from bashing all three on the head for arguing over something so simple as what asari looked like. They look like humans with turian-like fringe, anyone with a brain could see that! Passing them by, Terri settled into a stool just as the asari behind the bar finished catering to a rather tipsy looking turian. Wiping the glowing glass with her rag, the asari spoke in a gruff voice. "Hey there, I'm Aethyta, matriarch and bartender for Eternity. What'll it be, sweet cheeks?"

Blinking at the remark, Terri couldn't help but let her foul mood show. "Anyone else would get punched in the face for callin' me that… you got any decent levo-beer?"

Unlike most she'd run into, the aging alien didn't even bat an eyelash at her tone or her words, merely nodding as she moved toward the row of bottles behind her to fill a glass with a honey-colored liquid. "Asari beer that's of good stock, even got a few good reviews too. Give it a try, see if you like it."

Sipping cautiously at the brew, Terri found herself taking a larger sip as the cool liquid flooded her mouth with a strong taste and a sweet smell. It even burned a little going down, making her straighten at the sensation. "Hmm, good texture, color and hearty flavor. Hard to find one this good. But then I'm sure this has something in it so that might be it."

"I run a clean bar if that's what you mean. My licenses are up to date and I make sure there's nothing extra in everything I serve." The asari said, taking the statement in stride.

Amused, Terri couldn't help but smirk impishly. "Odd that I've never met you before now. Coulda been a real help when I was here two years ago."

"Were ya? You humans all-." Aethyta began.

"Look the same? Same could be said of batarians or elcor, even hanar. But I'm pretty sure I'm memorable enough." Terri stated before looking the older woman in the eye. "You know anything about that explosion that nearly leveled the warehouse district?"

"Yeah, the cops found lots of dead mercs and busted metal. Why?" the aging bartender asked, clearly puzzled.

"All I'll tell you is: oops, my bad." Terri told her, sipping at the beer again as the woman gaped in shock.

"That was-?" she stammered, the two now oblivious to any eavesdroppers.

Terri simply chuckled at the older alien's reaction, waving the horrified stare away. "I intended to just take out just the one warehouse, not the whole block. How was I supposed to know those idiots had unregistered explosives in the containers?" she declared, taking another swig and smiled properly for the first time in days. "This really is good beer! Keep it comin'."

"Sure thing." The asari retorted as casually as she could manage, unable to hide the awe that was clear in her eyes. That alone had Terri chuckling into her next swig as she let the cool liquid relax her, even if the alcohol was never going to get very far.

Moreh's conversation with her aunt had been what even she would call awkward, making the quarian on edge whenever the asari asked her a question that she knew Terri would be most displeased with her for giving an honest answer. After bidding the blue-skinned woman and her niece farewell, Moreh only stuck around to order a crew to clean out the shuttle and do some touch up work while she was away. Even on Illium, some service people knew better to stiff a customer, quarian or not. According to the message she got, it would take an hour or two, giving her time to kill for shopping. Weaving her way through the vendors and their kiosks, the various shops full of people coming and going, Moreh was glad to be back among civilization again, even if a place like Illium wasn't kind to quarians. But having been to Nos Astra before, Moreh knew that very few would treat her poorly, knowing her relations. Finding a few personal care items that she was in desperate need of, Moreh decided to head to Eternity for a few drinks and maybe find her partner in work there. She knew her human compatriot well enough that, due to her 'special situation', getting drunk was all but impossible but that didn't keep her from trying. Getting there proved to be a challenge since there were several kiosks on the way that tempted her to spend more of her hard-earned money. Coming into the dimly lit space, Moreh found the place was close to full with people all lounging in cushioned chairs, sipping at a rainbow of beverages as if they had all the time in the world. Making her way to the bar, Moreh didn't hesitate to give a handsome looking drell with a maroon colored face a once over as he did the same before looking away. As she took the few steps leading the small alcove, she was certain the man was staring at her ass. True to form, Terri was seated at the bar, seeming content to sit and simply be there rather than be up and on the move.

At her approach, the human's ice blue eyes fell on her, making her smile as she greeted her friend. "Hey, I thought you'd never get here! We should come to Illium more often if this bartender is like all the others."

The asari sneered a little, but the humor was there even as she said. "So glad I could entertain you with my quirky personality."

"Given that I almost had you crappin' your dress, then yeah, great for us." Terri responded with the same level of humor, ignoring Moreh and how the quarian rolled her eyes. She was just glad the human wasn't in jail or handcuffs yet. Sitting in the stool next to her, Moreh focused on ordering a drink.

"Turian brandy, please." Moreh stated politely, earning a smile from the aging asari.

"C'mon up, darlin'." Aethyta affirmed as she moved to prepare the requested beverage.

Ignoring all else, Terri spoke after taking another sip of her beer. "So what's new? I thought you were gonna spend more time with your aunt."

"I would if she wasn't so busy. Besides, her meeting us at the port was just her way of welcoming back. She understands what I do, well, what _we_ do. What about you? I'm glad you're not in jail yet." Moreh remarked, making the human sneer.

"Wouldn't that be a laugh? Just chattin' with Ms. Interesting here, after some much needed shopping. Speaking of which, any jobs worth noting?" she asked the bartender, making her pause after giving the quarian her drink.

"So you're freelancers huh? Woulda figured since none of the bands I know of run with quarians. I might know a contact or two who could use some extra muscle." The bartender remarked with a smirk, grabbing up her rag to wipe away a small spill.

This caught Terri's attention, sitting up straighter in her seat. "Really? Well, somethin' is better than nothin'. Send me the info."

"Can we not think about work for once? We're on vacation!" Moreh declared as she pulled her 'emergency induction port' from one of her pockets, making sure the tube of flexible plastic was clean. Just seeing it reminded Terri of their many arguments over how to her, it was just a fancy straw.

Focusing on the conversation at hand, Terri frowned. "We still need cash Moreh, and as much as I would love to sit back and catch some rays, we still need to rack up customers if we're going to stay afloat. Word has it that Shepard lady is back and roaming the Terminus. Ever think we might run out of spots to hit if she and her brothers kill off all our targets?"

"Shepard? She was here a few weeks ago to grab some drinks with her crew. Took down some Eclipse by the docks and then some more at Dantius Towers, where Nassana finally bit it, crazy bitch. Heard a drell did it." Aethyta cut in, bringing her voice down a tone as she spoke as if it were a secret.

"A drell? They're not generally violent. Who was it?" Terri asked, now clearly intrigued by this news. Moreh merely listening in as she sipped at her triple-filtered brandy.

"I hear it was Krios. Was seen leaving with Shepard, word is they went to Omega." The aging asari told them, her dark eyes grave.

From behind her mask, Moreh frowned. "That proves that she's up to something. But how can she back? I thought she was spaced?"

"I don't know much about it either but it was her. Her face, voice, everything. Even her brother, who got spaced with her. A guy I know got a peek at her ship too. Said it was exactly like the Normandy, only bigger and with different colors."

"What colors?" Terri asked, ice blue eyes sharp like razors.

"Black and yellow. Not blue like the Alliance. The Council wasn't too happy to see her when she showed up on the Presidium either." Aethyta told them, every word sincere.

At that, Terri growled. "Cerberus, of course. Dead or not, something like that doesn't matter to those morons. They may say they fight for humanity but it's like they've tossed away the rulebook! Bad shit happens when you do that."

"Whatever's goin' on, it's heavy if Shepard's back. If you two get tied up in that, I suggest keeping your head down." Aethyta warned, concern slipping into her voice and expression as she glanced between her two customers.

"Won't keep me from blowing up a few of their labs, but it Shepard's involved, there has to be a good reason. She's too noble to just go along with their plan, especially after surviving the Blitz." Terri snarled, obviously riled now. "Either way, it's not our business unless we're pulled into it. Especially when I'm sure she's behind that massacre back on Omega. No way three merc bands that actually get together to kill one guy get swept away unless a Shepard is involved."

"Or you." Moreh pointed out.

"Can't claim it if I was never there. I'd have just bombed the place to hell just to get rid of the mercs before moving on to all the crooks and anything left in the shadows." Terri shot back before taking a big swig of her beer, her body already working to keep the alcohol from fogging her senses but at least it slowed her mind a bit.

She still had enough processing power to know that Aethyta was talking again. "That's if you got past Aria first. She'd flay you alive."

"Many have tried. You see how that worked out." Terri grit out, disliking that such idle conversation had driven her into a mild state of irritation so she changed the subject. "On a lighter note, I noticed someone givin' you the look Moreh. Hopin' to take it to second base?"

"First, I've no idea what you just said. Second, I plan on seeing if that salarian over there wants another drink." Moreh said, pointing to a dark grey salarian dressed in modestly colored clothes at a table by the opposite wall who, if his body language was to go by, wasn't having the greatest of days.

Looking at said alien with a quick once-over, Terri nodded approvingly. "Good, that drell is a con artist who'd just steal your chit when you're not lookin'."

"And you know this how?" Moreh found herself asking before Aethyta could voice it herself.

Terri simply shrugged. "He tried to make a pass at me and I broke his arm for it. If he tries again with either of us, I'll break both of 'em and see how smart he is then."

"That got dark fast. I'm just gonna go over here." Moreh muttered aloud, making Terri call after her.

"If you plan on going to a hotel, I'm not payin' for it!"

Behind her mask, Moreh rolled her eyes as she called back as she crossed the room. "It's okay, my grandma has a clean room for me back at her place. Just behave okay?"

"What am I, three? Just stay away from the drell, he's bad news." Terri retorted, not particularly offended. When the quarian ignored her, she just turned back to the bartender.

Deciding to cut in, Aethyta spoke up again. "I do have one job that might interest you, a diplomat who needs some extra guns on her detail. Can you do it?"

"I'll look into it and send her a response." Terri promised, fiddling with her omni-tool to accept the information before turning to look across the room. Over the din, even her sensitive ears couldn't quite tell what they were saying but the fact they were already deep in conversation bothered her. "I swear she's just askin' for trouble."

"What about you? Ever try to get a date?" the matriarch quipped, smirking at the dark edge that'd come over Terri's expression.

The expression vanished at the question, making the human scoff. "Not from this crowd. Too high class and flashy. Absolutely no honesty, save you and that's just because you just don't care."

"I care. No one just wants to listen." Aethyta grumbled.

Terri nodded grimly. "Yeah, I bet that's what Shepard thought when she started spoutin' about the Reapers. But I know better. Someone like that doesn't lie about a species of monster machines coming from the abyss of space to kill us. Not when the evidence is there."

"Most of which was blown up two years ago! They never did find all the pieces." The asari countered, frowning despite her 'take action doctrine'.

"True, that just means someone else did. If Cerberus can bring a dead hero back to life, what makes you think they didn't snatch up as many of those parts as they could get?"

Aethyta blinked, taking a moment to process said information before sighing deeply as she rubbed at a temple. "Now I need a drink."

"At least you're not denying the truth." Terri pointed out with a dry smirk. "The truth that threatens the cushy life all these idiots know and love. Won't do them much good to crunch numbers if they're being blown up by a massive slug from a machine three times the size of an old naval carrier."

"You think all these people deserve to die?" Aethyta asked, looking stunned.

Frowning, Terri shook her head before sipping at what was left of her beer. "I think they deserve to know that they're living on borrowed time. Same as the rest of us." She remarked darkly, accepting a new beer from the alien as she grumbled. "Better the truth than some crappy lie."

"I'll drink to that." Aethyta agreed, already pulling out a glass from under the bar and grabbing a bottle of the strongest alcoholic beverage she had in stock.

Meanwhile, Moreh was busy making her move, careful not to come too strong onto the obviously ailing salarian. "Hey, you okay? You're lookin' pretty down."

Large black eyes were forced to blink in surprise, thoughts interrupted to focus on the dark suited girl now standing next to his table. "Huh? Oh, thanks but I'll be fine."

"I've never seen a salarian looking so depressed. Credit chit for your thoughts?" Moreh asked as she sat in the empty seat next to his, keeping her tone light and friendly.

For a moment she thought the man wouldn't answer but eventually he caved. "Well, my asari girlfriend who I've been with for two years just broke up with me."

"That's terrible! Why would she do that?" Moreh exclaimed, sincerely shocked that someone would do that to someone else.

The salarian nodded grimly, appearing just as upset by the thought. "Said she wanted to see the galaxy, go on an adventure…so she joined the Eclipse."

"Really? What a foolish idea. She's just setting herself up for disaster." The quarian returned with a disapproving tone. Surely even an asari knew that being a mercenary, even an honorable one, was a dangerous life.

"That's what I told her! But she wouldn't listen and now here I am, trying to drown my sorrow as best I can." The salarian exclaimed in turn before taking a deep swig of his brightly colored drink and nearly slamming the glass onto the table. Letting out a slight gasp from the sensation of the strong liquid, he stated almost to himself. "That felt good."

"The drink?" Moreh asked, watching the other alien curiously.

Large black orbs studied her for a second before he smiled. "Well yes but…talking about this. Getting it off my chest. I feel better, that's for sure."

"I'm glad I could help." Moreh chirped happily, glad she'd at least gotten rid of the dark mood that'd hung over the salarian.

"Sorry I just…I don't even know your name yet." He said, shifting almost awkwardly.

Realizing he was right, Moreh recovered quickly. "Oh, I'm Moreh. You?"

"Long and hard to pronounce but just call me Malik." The salarian told her, his smile seemingly glued to his face.

"Hmm interesting name. What do you do?" she asked, honestly curious about her new acquaintance.

"I'm a tech but I dabble in bio-engineering. I have a decent job but I like to do a few things on the side for some extra cash to pay for school. Know where I can find something to do?" he asked her, showing the same amount of curiosity in her answer as she had.

"Actually-." Moreh began to say before a new voice cut her off.

"Okay, what kind of trouble are you in now?" the voice grumbled, making the quarian turn sharply to see her friend had followed her after all.

Scowling from beneath her mask, Moreh admonished the human. "Terri! That's rude! We were just talking!"

"Right, that's believable. Because everyone we meet is dependable. Just means I'm surrounded by brainiacs." The human woman droned before taking the empty seat next to Moreh's, across from Malik. Without missing a beat, her ice blue eyes fell on the dark-skinned alien with a critical gaze. "So what do you do?"

To his credit, Malik recovered from the interruption quite well, taking the arrival of the human in stride. "Like I just told your friend, I'm a tech but I'm up for some extra work when I'm free from my day job. Not to mention my usual troubles. Nothing nefarious, I assure you."

"Uh-huh. And if you're lying, I'll just save everyone the trouble and shoot you." Terri deadpanned with ease, making the salarian blink.

Next to her, Moreh was aghast. "Terri! Be nice!"

"What's 'nice'?" the human asked, appearing honestly confused. "Like how I was 'nice' to those several thousand batarians a few years back?"

"Wait…that was you?" Malik cut in, astonished at this information.

"You're welcome. I saved the galaxy from a second coming of the Skyllian Blitz. Kept me from becoming a Spectre though." Terri retorted with a growl, taking a large swig of her beer, letting the sweet scent flood her nose.

"Me too, but not for the same reasons. They chose some human instead, someone named Shepard." Malik told them, his long face shifting into a scowl.

"Ah yes. I saved her some work, that's for sure." Terri muttered.

Hoping to change the subject, Malik turned back to Moreh. "So what do you two do?"

"We're freelancers but we can always add another person, right Terri?" Moreh asked, turning to her dubious counterpart.

Terri nodded sagely, nudging her quarian friend with her shoe. "Granted he doesn't get shot or cower in a corner, I'm for it. Why not tell him about your stint with the Suns while we're at it."

As expected, Malik reacted with surprise in his voice. "You were with the Blue Suns? Wow, that's hard to imagine."

"Not so much now, after making Vido angry with me." Moreh returned with regret in her tone, hanging her head a little at the memories.

"What happened?" Malik nearly whispered, anxious to hear what the girl had to say. Also curious, Terri merely sat quietly to see what her friend would reveal.

Taking a big sip of her brandy, essentially liquid courage, Moreh began her story. "I met a turian during my Pilgrimage and stayed in contact when I finished. We shared information with me telling him where the Fleet would be while he told me where to find good resources and supplies as well as where his people were to avoid getting shot."

"Wait, you sold out your own people?" Malik asked, astonished.

Moreh could only nod, making her regret evident. "I was never a good quarian and I what I was doing was a necessary evil! I did it for my people, even when the Admiralty Board banished and my father disowned me."

Terri sat up in her chair, her face marred by a concerned frown. "Your father did that? That's harsh."

"It gets worse. I called my friend and told him what happened and he offered me a job. I was desperate so I took it. My second big mistake." Moreh declared weakly, her shoulders slumped in emotional defeat.

Malik met his gaze with Terri's before asking. "What happened with them? You're clearly not with them now."

With a sigh and a shiver, Moreh shook her head. "No, not after I rose through the ranks and a woman in Cerberus colors approached me with lots of credits on him and the rest of the band. I refused but she tripled the price." Frustrated, the quarian all but slammed her glass down as she spoke in a fury. "I couldn't help but crack and spill everything. It was when they started to get attacked left and right that I put it together. So I ran to my grandmother, my Aunt Elena going so far to help fake my death to keep them from giving chase."

"And now?" the salarian asked, his soft voice somehow audible over the loud music and shifting drone of conversation.

Unsure of what else to say, the quarian shrugged. "Now…I'm just Moreh. Whoever I was before, I can't be anymore."

"Even your father?"

She nodded. "Even him."

A silence fell over them, which only Terri had the mind to break, blunt as usual. "Well that was depressing. Believe it or not, we do have a job scheduled. Did you want to bring your new friend along?" she asked her friend, ignoring the salarian's awestruck expression.

"I know I just met you, but do you have to be so cold?" Malik admonished.

"Do you have to be so skinny? Thing is, I've known Moreh for a lot longer than you but I've seen a hell of a lot more messed-up shit than either of you so I'm not about to top that sob story with something that'll have you running to the latrine like a wimp." Terri shot back, effectively silencing the alien before she continued. "Besides, it just proves her father's an ass, the Blue Suns are assholes and life is shit. So she got booted for being herself! So what! I'm surprised I got through the psych eval for the Alliance."

"Yeah but-!" Malik began to argue.

"But nothing! Now are you coming or not? We've got to get geared up if we're going to keep some snobby asari diplomat from being shot to pieces." Terri growled, getting to her feet to call over to the bar. "See ya Aethyta! Put these on our tab!"

"You got it kid! Come back anytime." The asari called back before returning her attention to her latest customer ordering drinks.

Not missing a beat, Terri was already dragging the two out, ignoring their protests as she got the pair to the nearest weapons kiosk. She'd passed it by earlier but had held off, ignoring Moreh's huff of annoyance as she started to peruse the listings. Between them, Malik appeared uncomfortable until Moreh started talking. "Don't let her get to you. She's like this all the time so I wouldn't worry about it."

"If you say so. This mod looks interesting." Malik noted, selecting it through another of the holographic panels on the kiosk. "Then again I need the gun first."

"Just get what you need so we can get going. Moreh can navigate us to the destination once we get ready." Terri told them, activating her omni-tool before putting a finger to her ear to turn the device on. In a moment she started talking. "Hey Vic, it's me Terri. You up for doing some digging for me?"

"What're you doing?" Moreh asked, watching her friend curiously.

Looking at her, Terri muttered in a low tone. "Getting some intel. I don't like not knowing who our clients are." The person on the other end must've answered for she was talking again. "Yeah, I'm here. I'm sending you the info now. Yes, I need this in a rush, I just got the job this morning. Yes, I know this kind of shit takes time but I have a new recruit to break in and only a few hours until the job starts. Just call me back when you've got something." She snapped impatiently, turning back to the kiosk after ending the call.

"That didn't sound friendly." Moreh noted.

Terri just rolled her eyes. "Vic's paranoid as hell but he's dependable. He'll come through. How are we over here?"

"Good so far. I thought you'd never been here before."

"Not with you, back when I was solo." Terri stated casually. "Things…didn't go well. For everyone else anyway."

Moreh blinked before letting out a heavy sigh. "I don't want to know do I?"

"Only if you plan on yelling at me for doing 'something stupid'." Terri retorted with a devious smirk.

"Ugh. You're impossible." Moreh grumbled only to make a call of her own, the connection made within seconds. "Aunty, do you have a discount over at Minx Weapons? My friends and I are getting prepped for a job and need some things. Really? Thanks auntie! I'll see you when the job's over."

"Who was that?" Malik asked, glancing between his new teammates curiously.

"Moreh's rich asari aunt. Who clearly has too much money and time, which she spoils on Moreh." Terri told him, smirking at the salarian's blink of surprise.

"An asari? Are you serious?" he asked, his voice giving away his disbelief.

"A story for another time, handsome. At least with this discount, and with my aunt's account, we have access to Spectre-grade weapons and gear." Moreh told them as she came back to reality.

"I rest my case." Terri deadpanned. "I'm sensing a catch."

"She has a job for us once we're done with the one already lined up."

"I love this vacation more and more." The human droned, finishing her selection and collecting up her purchases. "Let's head back and get geared up. We need to get ready if we're going to get there on time to meet the client."

The two aliens didn't argue, instead following the human back to the shuttle to get geared up in privacy. Since Moreh and Terri were accustomed to sharing the same space, Moreh spent most of her time modding her new guns while Terri slipped into her navy blue armor while Malik geared up in the other compartment. In the corner, Moreh was already relishing her new finds like any other quarian. "These were a really good buy! I should've been coming to that company ages ago." She chirped happily.

Terri couldn't help but smile at her friend's delight but still admonished her as she got the last of her armor on. "Just get ready." As she finished buckling her gauntlet on, her omni-tool beeped with a message. Frowning, Terri moved to respond. "Looks like my contact has something. That was fast."

"Is that bad?" Moreh asked, her cheery attitude suddenly gone.

"Not usually." Terri muttered, answering the call. "Hey Vic, what-? Whoa, slow down. Unless you have asthma, take a deep breath and start over. Okay, okay I'll ask! Hey Moreh!"

"What's wrong?" the quarian asked, frowning from under her mask.

Terri shrugged, her uncertainty evident. "What does our client do? Do you know?"

"She's a diplomat or priestess of some kind. Ambassador maybe?"

"Yes, because that's very specific. And mixing religion and politics too? Yes, this job is getting off to a good start, thanks." The human retorted dryly before turning back to her radio to growl her annoyance into the comm. "Vic, listen to me. Stop panicking and get a grip. Just send what you have and go lay down or something. Get your head together."

Watching Terri get her boots on in a clear state of irritation, Moreh knew she had to break the tension or she'd tear out a bulkhead…again. "You okay?" she asked as Malik came in, his new armor too clean and fresh to be part of their ensemble since both her and Terri's armor were beat up nearly to being thrift buys.

Frowning, Terri shook her head as the frustration fell away. "Yeah, that was just exhausting. You guys finish up and I'll get the car going." She told them, grabbing her helmet and heading for the airlock to get them a sky car.

Watching the human, leave, Malik waited until the door shut behind her before asking. "Why doesn't she have a rifle? Why the pistol and sniper rifle?"

At that, Moreh froze, unsure of what to say. Terri had stressed that she was unique and thus valuable if the right or wrong person learned of her existence. Choosing her words carefully, Moreh spoke as casually as she could manage. "Terri's…more of a close range fighter. And exactly who you want getting you out of a mess."

"Biotics?" the salarian pondered, baffled.

The quarian shook her head. _I wish._ "No, it's…complicated. I wouldn't try to question her on it. She's dependable though. Won't let you down no matter what."

"Is that respect I sense?" Malik noted, humor lacing his voice.

Moreh couldn't help but laugh, the sound oddly weak. "She's my only real friend in this messed-up galaxy, someone I really rely on other than my family, when I'm down. Just don't tell her that, her ego is big enough." She told him, holstering her shotgun and pistols before heading for the door.

His own guns prepped and ready, Malik following with a smile. "I hear that."

They found Terri by the cab terminal, already at the controls as her companions climbed in, Malik in the back and Moreh riding shotgun. Turning to the quarian, the human nodded at her. "Where to?"

Activating her omni-tool as she settled into her seat, Moreh pulled up the information before saying it aloud. "Docking bays, near Dantius Towers."

"Ah yes, the unfinished towers. Delightful." Terri muttered as she put the car in gear, the vehicle easily taking off to join the many lines of cars already aloft.

"Why can't I drive? You do this every time." Moreh grumbled as she sat back. Apparently it was her turn to be annoyed at something.

"Because you suck at it." the human retorted easily.

"I take offense to that." Moreh hissed angrily.

Chuckling, Terri just smiled. "You should. The last thing you want me to do is throwing up again. Remember?"

"I do." The quarian admitted reluctantly.

The smile took on a smug edge that just made Moreh want to punch her. "Good, now get in. and get on the map so we don't get lost. It looks like a beehive up here."

"Why am I your friend again?"

"If you weren't, you'd be dead." Terri deadpanned.

Rolling her eyes, Moreh crossed her arms in defiance. "Rub it in why don't you?"

"Oh I will."

From the backseat, Malik was already at the end of his rope, glaring at the pair of women he'd been so foolish enough to team up with. "Will you two knock it off? Am I your referee now?"

"Unless you've someplace else to be." Terri told him.

Taken off guard, Malik struggled to answer. "Well I-."

"Then congrats, you have a new role in life." The human shot back prior to looking to her copilot. "Which way?"

"Two hundred meters, north east."

"Of course, business district." She grumbled, her nimble fingers floating over the controls with ease, the car merging with another lane roughly to their right.

"I really hope this job doesn't go south." Moreh stated absently before saying. "Turn left here."

"Experience?" Malik asked from the backseat.

"Something like that." The quarian admitted reluctantly.

Terri smirked, the expression promising trouble. "Do tell."

"Keelah no, not unless you get me drunk." Moreh growled at her.

"That can be arranged." Terri mused aloud, chuckling when Moreh punched her in the arm.

"I said no, Terri." Moreh protested, glaring at her friend.

The human just chuckled harder. "Admitting you're a lightweight? What a buzz kill! Makes me thing Frog back there thinks more about his clan's 'breeding contracts' to have anything other than tap water."

"Must you call me that? I do have a name you know!" Malik protested in turn, annoyed at the very stereotypical insult.

"Really? We have names too! A name I'll only use unless under duress that doesn't include sex, which I'm sure with you will be very boring." The human countered, making Malik gasp and Moreh sputter.

"T-Terri! How can you say that!?"

"What? Everybody knows salarians have no sex drive. It's not groundbreaking like the discovery of Sasquatch." The human retorted, now mildly annoyed.

Confused, Malik stared, the insult forgotten. "Sasquatch?"

"Big, hairy ape thing that's wandered North America for centuries like a ghost with only crappy, blurry photos and film as proof. It's all hoopla." Terri muttered, easing the car toward the edge of their lane so to be ready for the turn.

"Hoopla?" the salarian asked, obviously not familiar with the word.

"Lies, rumor, bull crap, speculation. You know... myth."

"You can't be serious." Malik grumbled.

Terri barked out a dry laugh. "Perfectly. They said the geth weren't real right?" when no one answered, she continued. "Sasquatch probably isn't but until there's hard proof, no way to know."

"Are all humans as strange as you?" Malik asked, sounding greatly perplexed.

"Humanity is strange and as for as long as we've been able to consciously recollect, we always have been. Most of the early stuff is a mix of fact and fiction but it's still history. Look at the Bible! Most of that shit's over three thousand years old and half my planet truly believe that an entire culture was sent across the desert by an old fart with a magic stick all because a talking bush told them too. As I said, bullshit." Terri stated, glancing out the window to look at the pair of towers, a marvel of innovation and asari design "Real shame those towers were never finished."

Once again lost, Malik's voice was sounding off again. "What happened?"

Blinking, Terri almost turned all the way around to look back at the salarian. "You didn't hear? Shepard and her brothers happened. Went looking for that drell assassin Krios but tore through Eclipse and their mechs instead just as he killed the crazy bitch. Now cross your fingers she doesn't show up on this job too. I'd hate to kill the Savior of the Citadel without a damn good reason."

Next to her, Moreh nodded solemnly. "I've seen her a few times through my scope. She's definitely a force to reckoned with."

"Oh? Know what she can do?" Terri asked, turning back around to face the console properly even though the car remained level without her hands there at the controls.

The quarian woman merely shrugged. "Tech stuff mostly, and strong shields. Tore through the group I was watching like they weren't even there."

"Hm, now I'm curious." Terri said with a smirk, the expression vanishing as she frowned at the landing pad coming up. "We're here, try to look presentable."

"Says the woman with wavy hair. What's with that?" Moreh asked, pointing to Terri's brown hair, held back in a tail but still somehow draped over her shoulder.

Glancing at the edge of the tail, the human shrugged as she focused on landing the car without crashing. "Naturally curly. Just be glad it's not humid." To Moreh's annoyance, the human was smirking again. "Why, ever have a bad hair day Moreh?"

"You're seriously bringing this up now?" Moreh asked, her voice shrill with irritation and unease at the look in her friend's eye.

"You started it!" the human retorted, still smirking, shutting the car off and moving to step out.

"Like I can do anything with it when I'm in my suit all the time!" Moreh protested in a burst of fury, moving to get out as well, Malik following in silence.

"Quiet!" Terri hissed as an asari in commando armor marched up to them, her dark eyes looking them each over carefully.

"Who are you?" the asari demanded, her voice stern, mimicking Terri's defensive stance.

"Matriarch Aethyta sent us, something about a job?" said human told her, all humor gone as she stared right back at the commando.

"Ah, you must be the freelancers she told us about. Are you ready?" the asari asked, relaxing a bit upon hearing the matriarch bartender's name.

"Just tell us where you need us and we'll get started." Terri returned with a nod, pausing only to put her helmet on, complete with visor and breather unit before following with her teammates in tow.

"What have you been told?" the commando asked, not looking back as she lead them to a pile of crates where other asari were dressed in similar armor, all with guns and specialized gear for their biotics. As they got closer, Terri was already sizing them up as she spoke, her helmet's speaker making her voice echo a little.

"Not much, which is frustrating. I don't like taking jobs where I'm in the dark."

"I get that. Our mistress wishes to have people watching her who can blend with the crowds, which I think your friends can do. You, however, can stay with us as part of the main detail as back-up." the asari commented, her dark eyes narrowed in confusion as she paused to face them again. "Why only a sniper rifle and pistol? Don't you have other arms?"

"I've got my knife and my hands. Once you see me fight, you'll know why. These two are techs so they can tap into camera feeds and comm. links. Just connect with us on the radio and we'll go from there. You still didn't answer my question though." Terri remarked, doing her best to keep her annoyance to a minimum. No point in getting angry when they had a job to do.

The asari commando nodded, taking the hint. "Our mistress is Matriarch Uzi Otrotosky, head of one of our most prestigious temples and one of the three matriarchs in the systems to train justicars. She is wise, caring, and beautiful. Her words carry weight amongst our sisters in arms."

"Wait, the Matriarch Uzi?" Moreh asked, awe clear in her voice.

The commando blinked, her surprise evident. "You know her?"

"I know of her! She's not just the first justicar but she practically wrote the Code! I heard that in her commando days she took down a whole horde of rachni with just her biotics! I've always wanted to meet her." Moreh exclaimed, shifting in place with a nervous energy.

Rolling her eyes, Terri bit out. "Cool your suit Moreh, you might suffocate in there. And I'm not about to do CPR on you."

"Bosh'tet!" the quarian growled, punching the human in the arm again.

"What? Who knows when you last brushed your teeth! I sure don't." Terri shot back.

"A quarian who's a fan of a justicar? Now I've seen everything?" the commando stated absently.

"Everything?" Malik queried, annoyed that Terri and Moreh were fighting…again.

"When you live as long as an asari does, you see quite a bit." The commando told him, her voice deadpan.

Jumping back into the conversation, Terri also stated. "As have I but I'm sure everybody just ate lunch so I'm not sayin' more than that." Turning to her teammates, she spoke with clear authority. "Moreh, take Frog with you to the tech station and get us linked up."

"On it! This is gonna be so fun!" Moreh said with excitement, pulling Malik by his arm toward where one asari was working with a laptop.

"Hopeless but useful." Terri muttered, turning to the asari in turn. "Where do you need me?"

"Are you sure you'll be fine with just those weapons?"

From under her helmet, Terri frowned, crossing her arms. "I'm no biotic but I'm ex-Alliance. Trust me, I've got what I need."

"If you insist. We'll have you covering the rear, acting as cover for anything that might be coming for that direction. Blend with the crowd as best you can, alert us of anything you think is odd." The asari told her, only looking away when another commando called out to her.

"I can do that. Let's get moving." Terri responded, watching the commando move away to answer her comrade's summon.

Even through her helmet, hearing the lead commando mutter to another wasn't all that hard, her words dark in their meaning. "Keep an eye on them, they could be up to something."

_And red flag number one. Cue 'mission gone wrong' start._ Terri thought dryly as she moved to stand just away from the group of commandos to activate her omni-tool and radio just in time to be linked into a private line. "Moreh, you read me?" she asked, careful to whisper.

"_Loud and clear. We're in their radios now. What is it?_" her quarian friend asked, immediately suspicious.

"Something's fishy here. The commando just told a comrade to watch us. Are you in their database yet?" Terri asked, using the darkness of her visor to watch the commandos move about just as a sky car came down to land on the pad next to their set up.

"_We are. Looks like most of the security detail are Uzi's nieces and daughters so try not to offend anyone._" Moreh told her.

Terri merely scoffed. "No promises."

"_Knowing you, that's good enough._" The quarian muttered.

"Never did like asari anyway. Too 'holier-than-thou' and practically ageless half the time, plus kinda creepy, weird vibes." The human growled, irritated. "And if you can keep your hands off Frog, I just might get their information for you."

From the other end, Moreh gasped in anticipation. "_You'd do that!? Wait, this is a trick isn't it?_"

"Might be." Terri muttered with a smirk, shifting gears when the commandos began to move toward the new arrival, the door opening to reveal a regal looking asari dressed in a midnight blue dress. She even had a strange hat/headdress covering her fringe. With but a few words with the lead commando, the group was moving to leave the landing pad and head for the street corner. "We're moving, get in position." Terri warned as she moved to follow discreetly.

"_Moving._" Moreh responded with the same grim tone.

At some point, the lead commando was back. "Everything okay?"

"Just making sure they're in place. I should get a report soon." Terri stated confidently, hoping her racing thoughts didn't give her away.

"_In position. Malik?_" Moreh said over the radio.

The salarian responded quickly. "_All clear on my end._"

"At the lady's discretion." Terri affirmed to the commando, who was quick to get on her own radio for the group to move, which it did to lead the matriarch across the street and toward a high rise on the other side.

"_Probes are airborne. Should be getting feed's soon._" Moreh reported after a moment.

Sure enough, Malik was talking too. "_I'm almost through their terminal, shouldn't be long._"

"_It would be nice to know where Uzi is going, make things easier for us._" Moreh grumbled in mild annoyance.

Taking the hint, the human used the crowd around her to move toward her asari counterpart discreetly, still keeping her eyes out for danger. "Does the Matriarch have anything particular planned for today?" Terri muttered just loud enough for the commando to hear her over the din of the early morning chatter.

"That's only for the main detail to know. I'm sorry." The commando responded after a moment, moving away to take up a new position not far away.

As soon as the asari was out of earshot, Terri was on the radio again, muttering. "You guys hear that?"

"_Hard not to._" Malik stated, sounding just as annoyed that the attempt had yielded no results.

"_Should I send a probe to recon?_" Moreh asked, nervous energy infectious as Terri shifted in place with anticipation.

"Do it, but be discreet. Something's off here." She said, forcing herself to act casual when the commando came back.

Her blue face was twisted in concern, her bone white markings harsh against the dark color of her skin. "Is something wrong?"

"Everything's clear with us. You?" Terri managed to say absently, glad her helmet hid her face, else she would've given herself away.

Expression relaxing, the commando was nodding. "With us as well. We're moving again soon. Can you keep up?"

"We're with you." Terri affirmed, her omni-tool beeping once the commando's message came through. "Data received."

Moreh didn't speak up for nearly twenty minutes, after Uzi had gone into the building, an office building that was bustling with people. "_I've got bad news: nearly all these commandos are Eclipse mercenaries._"

"What?" Terri declared, bringing her voice down to a harsh whisper when a few people jumped and looked at her funny. "But how? Asari commandos are amongst the toughest warriors in the galaxy! Not to mention going after a matriarch isn't something asari normally do."

"_I don't know but I'm looking into as much data as I can. You're on your own until we know what's going on._" Moreh returned, her voice exasperated which was rare.

Terri sighed, wishing she hadn't put her helmet on so she could rub at her temples as she growled. "Can we get one job that doesn't go sideways? Just one?"

"_Such is the principle of Murphy's Law: what can go wrong, will go wrong._" Malik noted from his end, the salarian sounding just as irritated by things.

"And that proves all salarians are science nerds. I'm more about Occam's Razor myself but that's just me. Does this mean I get to kill someone now?" Terri asked, honestly hoping it wouldn't come to that. She just wanted to get some down time and no bullet holes in her armor.

"_No! We need evidence for the authorities!_" Moreh cried.

_Dammit._ Terri was fighting to keep her frustration under wraps at this point. If she went nuts now, it was possible the whole thing would fall apart. "Moreh, all mercs are corrupt in one form or another. Being freelancers, we're not exactly pristine either. Not to mention the fact that nearly all Eclipse are asari which is odd since you'd think some would join the Blue Suns if it weren't such a boys' club with guns."

From the other end, Malik spoke up once again as the voice of reason. "_We need to figure out why they're here before we start anything. They could just be here to act as protection like us._"

"True but matriarchs always stick with commandos, not mercs. Which brings why we were hired into question. Just keep digging and tell me what you find." Terri commanded, calming herself once more as the commando returned from her spot on the opposite side of the square.

"Any news?" she asked, the commando appearing at ease with Terri's constant use of the radio at this point.

"Streets are clear of threats but I might have to break off to cover what they can't." the human lied easily, unable to come up with anything else to tell the commando.

The asari seemed to accept the lie easily enough, nodding as she moved back to her vantage point. "Fine, so long as you stick to your assignment."

"Right." Terri called back as she moved out of the square and out of view. Once out of earshot, she was hissing furiously into her comm. "If you guys are going to do anything, do it before I get shot."

"_I'm working as hard as I can but these firewalls are tough. I need more time._" Moreh responded, her voice strained with concentration.

Taking over, Malik was talking in that infuriatingly calm voice of his. "_It is possible the mercs are leading her somewhere, other than what's on her itinerary._"

"Maybe but without it we can't know for sure. Try to get into their comm. links without being noticed. See if we can't hear what they might be discussing."

"_Can't you do that without us?_" Moreh asked, curiosity hinting her tone.

"I'm too far away and there's too much noise, even without the helmet. Even I have my limits Moreh."

"_Right, sorry._"

Terri shook her head, daring to look back at where the commando stood, who was watching her with a suspicious glare in her eyes and a frown. Acting as if she hadn't noticed, Terri pretended to scan the streets as she spoke. "Just hurry up before I get shot. That commando is giving me the stink eye."

"_The what?_" the salarian asked.

_Why do I even open my mouth?_ Terri thought, annoyed that she'd made the inference at all. "The stink eye. A very annoyed stare that is constant enough to warrant an equally negative reaction. She is giving me THE EVIL EYE!"

"_Keelah Terri, keep it together!_" Moreh admonished loudly, concern lacing her words at the human's intense reaction.

Forcing herself to take a breath, Terri knew she had to keep it together or they were all dead anyway. "You can be calm because you don't have your back to a bunch of blue-skinned fighting machines with guns and magic. You can be calm because you're two streets over. I can be calm when I know just what the fuck is going on so I don't get shot, get mad and tear this entire district to pieces just to get them to stop poking me full of holes. What do you think happened last time I was here?"

"_Yet you refuse to tell me about it!_" the quarian shot back with equal fury.

Ever the mediating third wheel, Malik asked. "_Should I even bother to ask?_"

"_No point since she'll just avoid the subject and curse up a storm._"

"_Okay, now I'm really curious._" The salarian muttered.

Growling, Terri snapped back. "Well tough. It's bad enough the half that aren't suspicious are giving me _that_ look."

"_It has been a while._" Moreh stated a bit too casually, making Terri's temper flare.

"Absolutely not. I swear Moreh, if you so much as try to bring that up again, I'm breaking your facemask." She seethed, angry words coming forth like the hiss of a snake.

"_Oh please, everyone loves the asari!_" the quarian protested.

"And that isn't suspicious to you?!" Terri snarled, making a few bystanders back off lest the human was in the mood of taking her wrath out on them.

Sounding only mildly disturbed by the mini-quarrel between the two women, Malik cut into the conversation again. "_If you two are wondering, I've gotten into the link._"

"About time Frog." Terri bit out, annoyed.

"_Use my name pyjak._" The salarian returned with the same amount of bitterness.

"_I love it when you talk back._" Moreh cooed from the background, making Terri scoff.

"When I see you next, I'm so killing you FROG."

"_I'd like to see you try._" Malik shot back.

Scoffing derisively, a dark smile had the human woman's mouth split in half. "Oh it'll be easy. You'll snap like a dry twig, which is what I'm sure will happen anyway when Moreh finally gets around to doing it with you."

"_T-Terri!_" Moreh protested, embarrassed and irritated while Malik cursed at her in the odd language of his people.

"Now shut up and get to work. Preferably before I become part of target practice." Terri growled, shutting the radio off to get a grip. The last thing she wanted was to go on a full-on rampage in the middle of a job, in the middle of a busy street. Needless she'd learned her lesson from the last time such a thing had happened. Then again, that snarky as hell merc she'd been paired with had been asking for it, since he clearly didn't know how to keep his hands to himself. Not her fault the rest of his group decided to try and put her down for it either. Things had only snowballed when it was revealed her employer was as corrupt as they came, creating a rather interesting situation that led to the destruction of nearly half the Nos Astra warehouse district and who knew how much money in damages. Terri had watched the news about the event some weeks later, relieved to know only her criminal employer and his equally corrupt security detail had been killed in the carnage. This had been a weight off her mind but in the end, she wasn't about to tell Moreh how she caused at least upwards of seven digits in damages just because some pervy guy didn't understand that no really means no.

"_Terri? Terri are you there? Answer me you bosh'tet!_" Moreh's voice called to her, bringing her out of her thoughts, fumbling to answer as her mind was still rattled from her trek through Memory Lane.

"Yes Moreh, what is it?" she managed to say coolly, glad they weren't arguing anymore.

"_Get over there now! Whatever they're up to, they're going to do it soon!_" the quarian said hurriedly, as if she were running.

"Shit. I'm on my way. Be ready when hell comes rolling in." Terri responded, half walking, half marching back into the square and toward the group of commandos just in time for the radio in her ear to cut out with a hush of static. Confused, Terri didn't stop moving as she tried to reactivate it, only to get more static. "Moreh? Moreh do you read?" when she still got no answer, she cursed under her breath but didn't stop. Ice blue eyes fell on Matriarch Uzi coming to stand amongst the commandos, ever oblivious to the danger. Terri's heartbeat rocketed as she fought with the many different options available. With Moreh and Malik now out of contact and she was faced with enemies and motives unknown, Terri knew she was on her own, leaving her with only one plan. She had to take action, and fast. Before she knew it, Terri found herself running right into the small group of asari like a cheetah going after an impala. As she closed in on them, only a few turning to see her and moving to block her, Terri could only hope that as she shortened the distance that what she was about to do didn't finally get her killed.

And cliffhanger! Curious yet? I should hope so! But don't worry, the 24th will be here before you know it and you'll get to see what happens. And since anything I say here might end up being spoilers, I'll just say come back again to see things get crazy with:

_**Chapter 3: Murphy's Law!**_


	3. Chapter 3: Murphy's Law

Hey, Blue here with the monthly update of me and kenoko-chan's OC fic! I'm not going to bother with my usual rant but say that the ME Universe belongs to Bioware but all the OCs presented belong to kenoko-chan and me. Enjoy!

"Iii" = speech

"_Iii_" = radio speech

_Iii_ = thought

Chapter 3: Murphy's Law

Moreh wanted to scream like a banshee, desperately trying not to panic at the fact their radios had been disabled, leaving her friend alone with the enemy and their unwitting employer who was bound to walk into a trap any second now. Behind her, Malik's equally small feet pounded the cement as they used their naturally long legs and stride to close the distance between themselves and their teammate. Moreh almost stopped dead when gunfire and explosions met her ears, the noise only making her run faster, pump her legs harder and gasp for bigger breaths of air. Already she could hear Malik struggling to keep up with her pace but didn't dare look back to see if he was going to trip or stop. They didn't bother to draw their guns in case they dropped them or were stopped by the police, only kept on running, following the angry shouts and chatter of guns down the streets. And going by the damage, Terri was giving her pursuers a run for their money, quite literally. Cars and store windows were damaged on both sides of the street, some varying in the extent and concentration of shots from either side. What's more, the carnage continued well down the street and around the corner where the flames of an explosion lit up the shadows.

"C'mon! We have to catch up!" Moreh called back to him between gasps, already running down the street, opposite of the panicking crowd trying to avoid the skirmish.

"At this point, I don't think I want to. Where did you find this human?" Malik yelled out to her as he struggled to follow her.

"Jail." The quarian gasped, taking the turn to follow the trail of damage onto the next street and beyond.

Upon hearing this, Malik almost tripped in shock. "What?!"

"We'll talk about it later but we need to go!" the quarian snapped as she was once again turning right and toward the source of the ruckus instead of away like a sane person.

"Only because I need the cash." Malik muttered as he ran to follow as well, questioning his choices for the eighth time that day.

Terri's plan wasn't the best, she could admit this, but it wasn't the worst. As much as just coming up and slipping through the small gauntlet of asari commandos would've been a good plan, it only would've raised suspicion between her and the high-powered warriors since being amongst them wasn't her assignment. So, she chose to rush them instead, sliding on the smooth cement to get past the first one only to jump up and elbow her in the back of the neck, making her go down like a rock. The next three fell just as quickly, taken down by powerful punches or well aimed strikes to sensitive pressure points through their armor. With a number of her foes already felled, Terri didn't hesitate to dive forward and grab her elderly asari client by the waist, throw her over her shoulder and start running down the street. Naturally, the matriarch was very confused, even as Terri pulled out her Paladin to ward off the curses and bullets of the 'security detail' they'd just left behind.

"What are you doing? Release me at once!" the asari demanded in her regal voice though the fear and confusion wasn't hard to hear.

"And let you get shot up by the Eclipse? I don't think so. You are paying me to protect you after all." Terri shot back, nearly stumbling when something hit her lower back but paid it no mind. For all she knew it was shrapnel.

"What? That cannot be!" Uzi retorted in clear shock to this information, her awe made even more evident by what she said next. "And how is it you can continue to move after being shot?"

_Fuck, that explains something. I guess they got me after all._ Terri thought but ignored the pain. "Miracles of nature lady. Now throw up a barrier or something before they toss a rocket or something. I can't outrun them forever." Just as she uttered these words, a rocket screamed past them, making Terri cut left to avoid the projectile and its blast, cursing under her breath. _I just had to say it didn't I?_

Malik was glad when they finally stopped at their fifth street corner, the two aliens out of breath as he exclaimed. "This is crazy! How can we keep up?"

"They may have taken down our radios, but we've still got our tracker signals." Moreh growled defiantly, her omni-tool active in a second to reveal a map of the district, as well as a moving red dot that was going faster than the average human on foot should be capable of. The quarian must've recognized the area the dot was in for she pointed to a spot just ahead of it on the map. "There! It looks like she's heading back to Eternity!"

"Why there?" Malik asked, confused by the human's logic.

"Elevated position, not to mention Aethyta gave us this job. Who else to hand the client over to but the friend who told us about it?"

"That…kinda makes sense." He muttered, still not quite understanding but decided not to question things. By the way things had gone so far, Malik doubted much would make sense after all this.

Terri ran down the street, dodging people and gunfire at a breakneck pace. At some point along the way, she'd torn off her helmet when it was hit with a large piece of shrapnel, effectively making it useless. As she tore down the street, she had but one goal: get to the one place she knew would be safest for her client. If asari bars were anything like a human's, it was bound to be chock-full of very irritated, trigger-happy people who just wanted to unwind at the end of the day. Granted, of course, they weren't too drunk to use said weapons to begin with. Plus, it was just about the only place she knew the most about, granted that amount was next to nothing. Armored legs pumping, breath steady and even in spite of who-knew how many bullet holes she was now sporting, Terri didn't stop no matter how many people cried out and dove aside or how her 'passenger' commanded that she stop. She wasn't sure how long it took to get the building the bar was in, and Terri didn't care. Looking up, she saw the window and picked up the pace by a margin, charging at a tech kiosk to clamber up and jump up from. Having holstered her Paladin ages ago when the clip finally gave out, Terri knew what she was about to do was her best bet. Using her only available hand, the other arm wrapped around the legs of her client, Terri willed her fingertips to take on a more durable edge. In seconds the woven material of her gloves stretched almost to the point of tearing as nails turned to claws stronger than steel, sharp like obsidian. They tore through the high-grade metal plating like it was tissue paper and she bound up like a monkey up a tree. If Uzi was saying anything, or anyone was watching, she didn't hear it as she made her way to her destination in a few short leaps. Using the slender edge between the plate's corner and the window, Terri used her inhuman strength to twist herself so her armored foot broke the thick glass. It gave way under her abuse, large shards becoming jewel size pieces in seconds, showering the unsuspecting customers with a loud crash.

At the bar, Aethyta gaped at the newcomers and the new exit to her establishment. All around, customers got up and ran while others openly gaped at the bloody woman carrying a very distressed asari over her shoulder. Not missing a beat, Terri marched to the bar, unkindly depositing the matriarch into one of the now empty stools. Pulling off her helmet, Terri ignored the stares the two asari were giving her as she spoke gruffly. "Aethyta, Uzi. Uzi, Aethyta. Stay here until I get back."

"Where are you going?" Aethyta asked, Uzi too stunned to say anything.

Terri didn't speak at first, merely turning on her heel back toward the window before responding, automatically replacing the clip in her heavy pistol. "To finish this."

Before anyone could say or do anything, she was on the ledge and out of sight just as quickly as she'd appeared.

Moreh didn't care that her legs ached or that her lungs burned, only that she got to their destination before something horrible happened, if it hadn't already. Briefly glancing back at her salarian counterpart, she snapped at him. "Hurry up Malik! You're not going fast enough!"

"I'm going as fast as I can, same as you!" he protested between pants for air.

Ahead of him, Moreh showed no signs of letting up, or slowing down. "We have to hurry, Terri could be in trouble!"

"Whose idea was it to split up again?" Malik growled, ignoring how several pedestrians glared and shouted when they forced their way past toward the small courtyard in the market area where they'd been not even a few hours earlier.

"That damned commando! She set us up!" Moreh hissed angrily, using her rage to go just a little faster, to weave through the now rushing crowd as people fought to get away from whatever chaos Terri and the mercs were responsible for.

Large dark eyes looking up, Malik couldn't help but sound relieved when he declared to the quarian ahead of him. "The bar! I see it! And is that—is that Terri?" he asked, all revelry gone at what he saw, both thin-framed aliens coming to a halt at the yard's edge.

Though it was hard to tell from under her mask, but there was no doubt that what they saw shocked Moreh, if the awed hush of her voice was to go by. "Terri?"

Standing in the small courtyard was indeed Terri, as well as the commandos, all staring each other down like a Mexican standoff. If Moreh's call reached her ears, Terri sure as hell wasn't listening. All she was focused on were her opponents, dressed in stolen commando armor for all she knew. To her, everything was painted in red, just like the blood she was undoubtedly getting all over the metal plating of the market floor as well as her armor. The sight, if she bothered to look was somehow made beautiful by the way the liquid was dripping onto the shards of thick glass covered the ground and crunching under their boots. Any bystanders had since fled in terror of the standoff now going on in their place of business, guns and biotics primed and ready to take down their lone opponent. Glancing between the mercenaries, Terri gave them each a steady look before moving on to the next, eyes like cold shards giving them an equal amount of consideration. From the way more than one shivered under her scrutiny, the dark look was doing its job in reflecting her irritation at the whole thing. Flexing her gloved hands with ease, her knuckles cracked loudly in the quiet, claws barely visible through the woven fabric. Already she could feel her teeth start to shift into their primal state in her mouth, her fangs threatening to pierce the soft flesh of her mouth. One of the mercenaries must've been more nervous than the others, her heavy pistol shaky in her hand with her finger on the trigger pressing against it enough for it to go off, making the woman gasp when it did. The resounding boom of the round leaving the high-powered gun shocked everyone, the bullet hitting home in Terri's forehead and forcing her head back so that she was gazing at the sky. But rather than fall like any corpse, one of Terri's feet shifted so to keep her upright, her head already coming back up, the bones creaking and cracking audibly in protest. Astonishment turned to horror as Terri used her hands to further right her cranium back into its natural position prior to letting out a wet cough, her face twisted in an expression of ire and discomfort. With it she let out a glob of spittle and blood that hit the ground with a light _tang!_ Even more surprised by this, the mercenaries stared down at the dark puddle to see there was a bullet in it. It was soon followed by several others, painting the ground a dark crimson, as well as more bullets that matched their weapons perfectly. The mercenaries were too shocked to move when Terri finally bared her razor sharp teeth at them, growling in a low primal way they knew no human could naturally produce. The effect was made all the more fearsome by the way the blood in her mouth coated the sharp canines in a deadly sheen of crimson paint.

The growl turned into a full-on roar, the deep sound a mix between a lion and a bear, shaking glass and metal alike with its power. Staring wide eyed in a state of pure awe, the mercenaries found themselves too slow when Terri suddenly pounced on them. Claws, teeth and angry growls mixed with their shouts of surprise and orders as well as their screams of terror into a clamor of horror. In seconds, guns proved useless, rockets were just tubes of metal and biotics did nothing to fend off the beast they'd angered. It could hardly be called a fight. Only a slaughter as blood of deep purple was splattered over everything, throats cut and torn, limbs torn clean off with inhuman strength. And watching it all unfold were her only friends Moreh and Malik, the pair unable to do anything but watch as their friend pounced mercilessly onto one of the last of the mercs who'd fallen to the ground in fear and shock. The asari, whose age was impossible to tell since most were only several decades or several hundred years old, looked ready to start begging or at least scream as if she were the one being murdered. This one, despite her age, was crying pitifully as a clawed hand gripped her throat and lifted her up off the ground. Her eyes, a brilliant shade of green and brimming with tears, gazed in fear at her captor.

Orbs of ice blue stared back, openly glaring at her prey. "You've got some explaining to do, little lady." Terri snarled, not looking away to draw her Paladin to shoot the only other survivor in the head before bringing the still hot pistol to the asari's face. "I don't suppose you'll mind if we ask you a few questions now do you?"

"I'll tell you anything! Anything you want! Just don't kill me!" the asari whimpered in her fright, too scared to blink or look away from the shards of winter staring her down.

"Who hired you?" Terri snarled, more of a command than a question.

Orbs of emerald were awash with tears as the asari forced the words from her delicate mouth, fear in her voice. "I don't know!"

"LIAR! I should take your head off right now!" the human growled angrily, making the asari mercenary cry out in fear as the Paladin's chamber was leveled to her temple. "You have until the count of three…"

"No, no please-." She cried out in a shrill voice, her hands weakly clawing at Terri's arm in a desperate move to escape.

"One." the human declared lazily, raising her index finger to the trigger.

The asari's eyes widened almost comically as she pleaded in the same high-pitched tone, struggling all the more in the hopes of getting away alive. "I'm so sorry, please believe me!"

"Two…." Terri stated, her finger curling as if to hug the trigger like a vine did a branch.

This was the last straw for the poor asari was all but shrieking. "Echidna! Her name is Captain Echidna! I'm just a freelancer, hired to protect the matriarch! Please don't kill me!"

As the asari spoke, Terri pulled the gun away, glaring at her captive. "Strange, we were hired to do the same thing."

Blinking so that her tears streaked through the blood on her face from her fallen comrades, the asari couldn't help but gape. "W-what? That makes no sense! We were told a non-asari would try to kill her."

"And our intel says most of your crew was Eclipse. Explain that." The human growled, already bringing her gun back up.

"I-I don't know! I really don't!" the asari told her, glancing between the human and her weapon anxiously, hoping the last thing she saw was a bullet.

"Dammit, we've been played! The whole lot of us!" Moreh cut in from the background, willing herself to ignore all the blood and the body parts in favor of approaching her friend and her catch.

Already scowling again, Terri was pressing the Paladin's now cool barrel to the asari's chin, her face twisted in a snarl as she seethed. "How do we know this isn't some trick she told you to play? For all we know, you're in on it!"

"I'm not, I swear! I was just doing what I was paid to do!" the mercenary pleaded, her voice cracking with her fear and desperation, eyes pleading with Moreh and Malik to save her from the dangerous creature threatening to kill her.

"By shooting me full of holes!" the human seethed, pressing the now cool metal of her heavy pistol to the soft flesh of her captive's neck.

Emerald eyes widening with fear once more, the asari was sniveling like a child through her frantic words and gasps of horror. "Please don't let her kill me! I was just doing my job, same as you!"

Once again stepping forward, Moreh took hold of her friend's arm so that she lowered her gun from the frightened asari in her grip. "Terri, you need to calm down. It's over!" ice blue eyes fell on her but she didn't react as she pressed on. "We need to regroup and figure this out!"

From the way the human's eyes flashed dangerously, Moreh knew that her friend's anger was still driving her. "No, we need to kill her and this Echidna bitch before this gets too out of hand. For all we know, this blue cunt could be lying to us about her role and this Echidna she's talking about."

"NO PLEASE DON'T! I'm a hired gun! I was only told to kill you if you tried anything against the matriarch, that's all! That's what we were all told before any of you showed up!" the asari mercenary insisted, thin hands still clutching at Terri's arm in an attempt to free herself.

Glaring at the blue alien, Terri decided then to let her drop into the puddle of blood from her dead teammates, holstering her gun as she turned away from the sobbing girl. "Frog, tie her up. Moreh, clear the way… I've got some questions for that matriarch you love so damn much."

As Malik moved to obey, Moreh stepped right into Terri's path, feeling a chill go down her spine at the cold look on her friend's face. "We can't just ask an asari matriarch about her private business! Terri, you need to-."

Lip curling, the human didn't hesitate to cut her off. "To WHAT? Sit around and do nothing? Look at what's happened! I've had to kill an entire crew of mercs for no fuckin' reason, I'm tired, cranky, covered in more blood than I'm willing to think about...and you want me to sit back and count to five? Hell no. Something's going on here and it's more than just tricking a bunch of people into killing each other over one old hag." She growled, stomping around her friend over the bodies of her fallen quarry to head for the stairs leading to the bar.

Determined to take control Moreh didn't hesitate to follow, attempting to get the human to stop, trying to protest. "She's not-!"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT SHE IS! JUST-!" Terri snapped, her shout echoing off the walls and off into the distance. This outburst seemed to be enough to get Terri to stop and sigh deeply, shaking away some of the negative energy plaguing her. "Let's just go before I just up and toss the dumb bitch off the ledge for good measure. And now I've got a headache."

"You were shot in the head." Malik noted from the background, making Terri look back at him with a dark look.

"Shut the fuck up, Frog." Terri growled prior to marching away, her face twisted in ire.

Watching the human go, Malik turned to Moreh, holding the frightened asari merc by the arm. "What now?"

"We clean up and hope Terri doesn't start another fight." Moreh stated, fatigue weighing her down more than usual. Fighting with Terri was a regular occurrence but sometimes things got so intense she sometimes wondered when the human would finally snap.

Green eyes watching the departing human fearfully, the now quiet asari's voice cut into the eerie silence of the courtyard. "W-what the hell is she?"

_Time to play good cop._ Moreh thought as she spoke. "My friend, if you can believe it. Who's this Captain Echidna?" Moreh asked her, keeping her voice calm.

"I never met her but she's part of Matriarch Uzi's security. Rumor is she's the matriarch's niece but I think it's just speculation. She's always hiring bodyguards for Uzi but I've never known something like this to happen during a job."

"It's not much but it's enough." The quarian said with a deep sigh, looking around at the fallen asari lying prone on the ground. A good number of them had fear in their eyes, the horror of their deaths painted onto their faces as surely as the blood on the ground. Shaking away the images, Moreh nodded at Malik as she got onto her omni-tool. "You take her upstairs while I take care of this."

Also not looking at the mess around them, the salarian nodded and led the mercenary along with gentle hands. The poor girl had suffered enough already.

Terri stomped into the bar, uncaring of many gaping onlookers. Her primal fury was still digging at the surface of her control, begging for release but knew better than to give in. If she did, a scene many times worse than the one she'd made downstairs would be the talk of the city for days. Already her control was kicking in, making her fangs and other sharp teeth change back with a dull kind of pain she didn't notice though her claws persisted. Their sharp tips were still threatening to poke through her gloves, which were drenched in the blood of the asari mercs below. Terri didn't care. Orbs of almost clear ice blue had focused on the two matriarchs at the bar, exactly as Terri had left them. Aethyta was working to get some puddle of alcohol off the glowing countertop while Uzi blinked upon sensing she was being watched. Turning to face the human coming their way, the gallantly dressed matriarch froze like a deer in the headlights. Prey knew it'd been cornered by a ruthless predator. Within but a few steps, Terri was at the bar and in the ancient woman's face, eyes burning into her like cold flames. Knowing the woman wasn't going to try anything, Terri then curled her lip and growled, "I'm going to ask you some very simple questions, and you're going to give me some very simple answers." Uzi could only stare in horror at the human woman, unable to look away from her wrathful gaze despite the fact she was covered in blood that was clearly not her own. Satisfied she had the matriarch's attention, Terri went on. "Who is Echidna to you and why would she plot to turn your own security details against one another?"

This inquiry was enough to get Uzi to finally answer, her face twisting in fearful bafflement. "W-what? Echidna wouldn't do such a thing! There must be an explanation. She can't have done all this!"

"Well ring-a-ding-ding lady, one of the mercs downstairs said she did. Said she ordered your guards to watch for non-asari attackers, mainly me and my crew who were hired as extra help for them. Doesn't that seem a little backwards to you?" Terri seethed, annoyed that for such a wise and powerful woman, such as the one before her could be so stupid. _Guardians of the galaxy my ass._ She thought as Uzi started to babble.

"No, no you must be mistaken! She has no reason to do this! She's been loyal to me for years. Why would-?"

"Will you wake the fuck up!? This is reality, not the land of wishful thinking! Now there's a lot of dead bodies down there, a number of whom would've killed me and my crew given the chance and you can't possibly fathom why your own security captain would make us blow up half the streets of Nos Astra just for you?!" Terri snarled, having grabbed the aged asari but the throat, using her still present claws to dig into the flesh of her neck to emphasize her words. "Now your second in command or whoever has just tried to get you killed in a very roundabout way and you better think of reasons why before I up and do it anyway."

"Terri! Calm down!" Moreh's voice cut in from somewhere, small hands pulling at Terri's, making the human release the matriarch who nearly collapsed in relief. A masked face and orbs of glowing white filled Terri's narrowed vision as the quarian girl told her off. "I know you're angry but you can't do it like this!" Turning away, Moreh helped the matriarch sit up as the asari gripped her throat. "I'm so sorry ma'am, are you alright?"

Uzi didn't speak, merely nodding, eyes darting between the two women. One may have been her savior but the other...the other still appeared quite livid about the whole thing.

"What the fuck, Moreh!? If this high and mighty bitch has answers about this clusterfuck of a job that we're probably not going to get paid for by another crazy blue bitch who has a stick up her ass over some stupid grudge that probably barely even fucking matters, I want. To. Know!" Terri snapped, letting her friend come between her and her quarry, at least for the moment.

"I know you do but you need to take a breath and rethink what you're doing! I mean... threatening a matriarch? In a bar filled with people? Have you gone crazy?!"

"I'm not crazy! I'm angry and I'm in pain! I'm cranky, I need a shower, I haven't slept properly in the past forty-eight hours and I just-." Terri cut herself off to shut her eyes and rub at her temples, the wet blood on her gloves bringing the stink of it right to her nose which just irritated her more. After a moment she finally admitted. "And my head hurts and I just want this to make sense."

"Okay, okay. We'll figure this out. I promise." Moreh swore shakily, watching her friend nervously. "Uh...your hands are shaking."

Terri opened her eyes, gazing at her friend in mild confusion, all anger gone. Looking down at them, Terri saw that her hands were indeed shaking while a finger or two twitched involuntarily. Taking a breath, deep and slow, the shaking stopped. "Yeah, they do that."

Uncertain, Moreh glanced nervously at her friend and her now steady hands. This was a phenomenon she'd never seen before. "S-since when?"

"Since always." Terri muttered, barely audible over the loud music that'd been blasting through hidden speakers the whole time. Just as Moreh was about to turn away and deal with their 'client', Terri spoke up again. "And Moreh?"

"Yes?" the quarian asked, watching her friend carefully.

For maybe the first time that day, Terri gave her a rueful smile, the expression made hideous but all the blood she was covered in. "I want a chicken sandwich."

And for whatever reason, Moreh couldn't keep herself from laughing wholeheartedly at the request. "I'll get right on that."

From the main floor, Malik made his entrance, turning to Moreh to say. "The police are here and they want answers."

"The cops? Who the fuck called them?" Terri demanded, her ire flaring back up again.

"I did." Moreh stated, knowing she was only putting fuel on the fire as her friend rounded onto her.

"What? I told you to take care of it!" the human protested, her once calm face now a mask of frustration.

"I wasn't about to tamper with a scene of that…magnitude! Not to mention the police can ensure those mercs, no matter how crazy this whole thing is, get a proper burial."

"Fine but I better get two sandwiches now."

Having regained her composure, straightening her regal dress with nervous hands, the matriarch's eyes glanced between the pair of women before her with orbs of violet. "Pardon me but…Terri and Moreh was it?"

"What?" "Yes?" the two women said nearly in unison.

Clearing her throat, rubbing at it to rid the soft flesh of traces of blood, Uzi seemed to regain her cool demeanor as she spoke. "I know not exactly what is occurring but I shall deal with the authorities."

"Not to look a gift varren in the jaws, but why?" Moreh queried, knowing Terri was thinking the same if the way her eyes narrowed when regarding the aged asari.

"I seek the truth same as you, though I'm still unsure on what it is Echidna is after, dealing with the police seems to be the first step to ensuring none of you are arrested." Uzi reasoned, nodding at Terri as she continued. "Your friend did state it was her duty to protect me."

At that, Terri nodded in turn, calming at the logic in the matriarch's words. "I did, and if we're going to figure this out, we need to be able to follow anything we find, which we can't do from a prison cell."

"That works for me." Moreh agreed, glad things hadn't spiraled into another shouting match with her teammate.

"Excuse me… Not to interrupt the thickening of the plot of some crazy asari suspense novel, but who's going to pay for the damages here!?" Matriarch Aethyta shouted in annoyance, pointing at the very broken window and the blood covering the floor, most of which Terri was once again spreading around simply by standing still. Glancing at one another, Malik and Terri exchanged a silent agreement before turning to look at Moreh.

Freezing, the quarian began to wring her hands when the two refused to look away. "W-why are you staring at me like that?" she asked, her heart in her throat when they kept right on with their almost creepy staring. "Stop it! I'm serious!"

"Only one thing can do that Moreh, and you know it." Terri stated with a dark smirk, making the quarian's eyes widen under her mask.

"B-but I already got my Aunt Elena to pay for our gear!" she protested weakly. "And I can't ask my grandmother!"

"What about that cash we got for our last job?" Terri asked, still not looking away. _How long does it take for a human to blink?!_ Moreh though as her mind scrambled for the answer.

"I'm saving it up for a new ship, a turian Star Crisis XIV."

The human's amusement quickly vanished as her lip curled. "Moreh…."

"Should I tell you about the leather seating?" the quarian told her, hoping it would be enough to sway her friend. She'd been looking into the ship for weeks and hoped to get it before they left the planet, mostly because they needed the space and their little shuttle just wasn't cutting it anymore.

Only Terri wasn't accepting this response, her voice full of warning. "Moreh."

"And everyone will have their own quarters and a full kitchen and-." The quarian babbled, again hoping it would convince her friend to relent.

"MOREH!" Terri growled, making the room hush in its wake.

"Alright fine! Just stop staring at me like that!" Moreh pleaded, doing her best to keep her despair to herself. She had really wanted that ship.

Terri smirked in triumph, nodding at Malik to find a seat with the mercenary they'd captured. "Atta girl. You go with Uzi to talk with the police. Pose as her secretary or something, maybe they'll buy it. Frog, stay put with the merc. If she tries anything, shoot her."

Malik frowned a little at the nickname but didn't argue. "What're you gonna do?"

Looking after Moreh and Uzi as they left to deal with the authorities, Terri was smirking again. "Get a stiff one and then call a guy about a Star Crisis model XIV. Leather seats are nice."

"What is with humans and leather?" Malik asked, his frown growing with his confusion.

Terri scoffed. "You're a salarian, you wouldn't get it. The last thing we need is you in Dreamville."

"What are you talking about?" he demanded, getting no answer as Terri headed to take a stool at the bar with her omni-tool activated.

Shaking his head, Malik knew he wasn't going to get anything from her, instead turning his attention to the merc seated across from him at the small table a turian and a dark-suited quarian had vacated when Terri 'entered' the establishment via window. The asari, maybe seventy, glanced around fearfully between him and Terri's turned back as if afraid the woman was going to tear her apart no matter what. Taking pity on her, he started talking to her. "Try to keep calm. If it turns out you really are telling the truth, we'll let you go. Promise."

"S-she killed them. She killed them all. You saw! It was like nothing I've seen before. I didn't know humans could so such things without biotics. And the way she looked at me...I thought she was going to kill me too." The asari merc said in a harsh whisper, her emerald green eyes brimming with tears looking at him, beseeching. "Please don't let her kill me! Please!"

"Calm down, it'll be okay. Take a few deep breaths and try not to think about it. Besides I think she's not in the mood anymore so you should be okay."

"Y-yeah, okay." The asari merc responded shakily, nodding as she bit at her lip, turning her gaze the table in front of her.

Down in the market, Moreh did her best to act her part as Matriarch Uzi spoke with the officers who'd come to 'clean up' the mess Terri had made. Just seeing it all again, splattered blood, spread-eagled bodies and vacant eyes made her stomach turn. Whether any of them were innocent of anything, being hired guns and mercenaries, there was no way to ask them. Being Eclipse, it was safe to say some of them were likely criminals in a certain capacity or another. _At least now they can't hurt anyone if they really were criminals._ Moreh thought distantly as she forced herself to look away, stand up straight and act like the professional she was posing as while Uzi spoke in a firm tone. Though going by the looks on the police officer's faces that wouldn't be hard: they appeared to be listening to the matriarch before them with rapt attention though their eyes betrayed their boredom. Since Illium was at the edge of asari space, many laws and rules weren't held at the usual degree of seriousness, likely making a mass killing like the one behind her business as usual. As promised, Uzi was explaining that one of the mercs hired to protect her had gone 'overboard' in ensuring that none of the false commandos could threaten her save for the one they'd captured for questioning. At that, the detectives took an almost child-like interest, clearly hoping the surviving mercenary could assist them in taking down any other corrupt Eclipse groups. Uzi agreed, though only after she and her 'party' could question the young asari themselves. Ever respectful of the matriarch, the officers agreed prior to beginning the clean up process.

"Well done, Madam Uzi. Are you well?" Moreh asked as the group of officers and techs moved past them, the quarian guiding the elderly asari aside to let them pass.

Uzi's face had lost some of its color upon seeing what Terri had done but had managed to retain her composure before the officers. Now, her blue face had lost a shade or two as she nodded, trying not to gaze at the fallen mercs lying on the ground like discarded trash. "Yes, I shall be. Once this horror is over, I shall be."

Moreh nodded, biting her lip anxiously over seeing her idol in such distress, taking the woman's arm so to guide her away from the bloodbath. "Let's get you upstairs."

Uzi nodded silently, appearing too sickened to speak.

"Hey! We're back!" Moreh said as she and the Matriarch came back in the bar a few minutes later, calling over the music and the resumed, if tense, conversations of the other patrons who were still present.

"About time! What were you guys taking so long for? Signing autographs?" Terri asked as she nursed a beverage in her hands. If the color was to go by, it was the asari beer she'd ordered before, the glass already stained with the blood on her gloves.

"Please give the police more credit Terri. They just needed our input on what the hell happened outside." Moreh said taking a seat next to Malik at the table they'd claimed. Sitting to his left was the mercenary who was watching them all with nervous eyes.

"Hold me Malik."Moreh said suddenly, wrapping her arms around him. Malik, merely confused by the sudden embrace, didn't react to the hug and just patted her back.

"Get a room!" Terri admonished as she took the only other free seat since Uzi had taken up the one next to the merc who stiffened as she approached.

"Be at peace young one, she cannot harm you anymore." Matriarch Uzi said in a calming voice, the mercenary nodding as the words did their job.

"Keep telling her that Uzi." Terri muttered, sipping at the beer leisurely, sitting back in her seat.

"The Code states that no innocent is to be harmed." the matriarch said with a glare, her voice stern with disapproval.

"Your Code, not mine." Terri shot back, not the least bit disturbed by her scrutiny.

"I only ask you not to harm her, if you do harm her more than now. I will be forced to kill you." Matriarch Uzi stated to Terri.

"No promises. But I wouldn't mind taking on a matriarch that's a former justicar." Terri said with a shrug as she turned her attention to the asari mercenary who shivered fearfully.

"Be...nice Terri." Moreh said in a tired voice, the speakers of her suit making it easy to hear that her speech was muddied.

"Moreh...are you ok?" Malik asked her.

"I'm mourning." The quarian said with a pitiful wail.

Confused, the salarian blinked down at the woman who was so forcibly embracing him. "For what?"

"My beloved ship with the leather seats." she said drastically as she hugged Malik tighter.

"Moreh, you're hurting me!" the salarian managed as the smaller alien girl tightened her grip, uncaring of any who saw.

"Calm down Moreh! You're freaking people out." Terri said with raised eyebrows.

"I was going to give the ship a custom paint job!" She cried out harder as she kept gripping Malik to death. "And you had to be mean didn't you?"

Rolling her eyes, Terri just glowered at her friend's despondent state. "Alright, just ignore her. I think she's going through the stages of grief. She'll be fine… I think." Terri said as she looked away from the 'grief-stricken' quarian.

"And what of your friend, Malik?" Uzi asked her with concern clear in her voice.

The human raised her gaze to the ailing salarian and shrugged. "Frog will live…maybe. But it's best to get back to the matter at hand and ask this merc about Captain Echidna." Terri said brushing it off, as if the whole thing was boring.

"I can tell you already she is my niece." Uzi said giving the quarian and salarian a second look before looking away.

"Yes, yes but anything else worth mentioning?" Terri asked, ire just at the surface.

Sensing the danger she was in, Uzi quickly added. "She's a justicar in training, does that help?"

Terri gazed at the matriarch in mild confusion, ignoring Malik's pained struggles to get the quarian desperately hugging him off his equally lithe form. "Then what's gone down makes no frickin' sense. Why would a justicar-in-training, essentially an asari super-cop, who is also your niece want you dead, harmed or for your own protection to slaughter each other?"

Appearing tired, Uzi merely shook her head, expression openly showing how helpless she felt. "I know not why she would do this, same as you only that it has taken me unawares. As far as I know, she and I have no reason to quarrel over anything."

"That's what they all think before someone gets shot in the head." Terri retorted in a low growl of annoyance before rounding on the asari mercenary once again, pointing a gloved finger at her. "You, what did Echidna tell you? And it had better be verbatim."

The mercenary flinched but didn't turn away, green eyes of vibrant emerald wide with fear and confusion. "L-like I told you, I'm just a freelancer with the Eclipse! I just got orders from my squad leader like everybody else."

"But Eclipse squad leaders don't always go with their units in case thing go south otherwise I'd have caught the bitch instead of you. And know you mercs, you have your fingers in some really sweet pies." Terri snarled between sips of her beer, the dark honey-colored brew already halfway gone but doing little to cool her irritation or dull her senses. That only made her all the more frustrated. _Damn Alliance meddling._ She thought darkly.

Uzi speaking up distracted her. "I don't believe I know that idiom. Please explain."

Terri blinked, as if unsure what to say before eventually ignoring the question by moving on. "Point being, the Eclipse tend to like to do things on the sly that wouldn't be exactly legal whether it's weapons, drugs or even people. But only if the money involved sweetened the deal, thus upping the risk but also any reward in the process. Which means whatever your precious niece is involved in is pretty heavy that either she needs you out of the way or she needs your help dealing with. Given that justicars undergo intense training with high-mortality rates, she could be trying to even the odds in her favor."

"How do you even know all that?" Moreh's voice piped up finally, the quarian clearly having gotten past her 'grieving'. Going by her tone, Terri knew she had moved on to sulking, Malik taking a breath of relief as the quarian had finally let him go. Still, the question made Terri pause. They were in a public place and who knew who was listening. That just meant she couldn't be as blunt in telling the truth as she usually could. Instead, she spoke with care for once. "I had access to a lot of...educational reading material growing up. I have a rather photographic memory with most learning materials I encounter, even if I can't understand it. Plus human literature makes for a rather interesting thought process that allows us to connect the dots in ways most species would take longer to decipher."

"I've heard this. As I understand, your species is confusingly diverse." Uzi stated, some of her fatigue fading away in the face of something new to talk about that wasn't about the bodies laying haphazard a floor below them.

Terri only rolled her eyes, sneering. "If you think that, you don't know the half of it. You think your religious radicals are bonkers? Look up 9/11 in the database and see what you get."

"Was it something terrible?" Malik asked, having gotten his breath back, warily glancing at Moreh in case she tried to hug out her sorrows again.

"It changed security standards and killed a little over 3,000 people so yeah...it was really, fuckin' terrible." Terri snapped, taking the whole table by surprise, all of them staring in shock at this information. Taking a swig of her beer, she kept going. "Then again it makes batarians look friendly so that should tell you something. It's bad enough they can't figure out how outdated the caste system is."

"No matter what others believe, we must respect how others live and think about life." Uzi responded, giving Terri a sad look.

Again, Terri rolled her eyes, clearly not in the mood for it. "Tell that the 3,000 civilians and local service workers who lost their lives to a bunch of sand rats who thought my country is evil. Including the innocent people on the planes they hijacked to do it." This made them all go pale, even Moreh appeared horrified who hadn't expected such things even from her friend. Terri merely sneered in her irritation. "And you aliens wonder why security at the Citadel is so tough nowadays. Either walk through the damn scanner or get arrested. Your choice."

A tense silence fell over them, one Moreh eventually had the nerve to break. "M-maybe we should get going. It's late and I'm sure my aunt is wonder where I am."

"That does sound like a prudent course of action. But that still leaves the matter of my niece and this young lady." Uzi pointed out before frowning, turning to the still rather unnerved mercenary. "I'm sorry my dear, what is your name?"

"Agate, my lady." the asari told her, glancing at Terri nervously again. "My father was human and he liked some of the older names."

To everyone's confusion, Terri just seemed to eye the mercenary a moment, as if gauging whether she was telling the truth. "Well Aggie, looks like you're with us." She suddenly declared, making even Matriarch Uzi blink in surprise as she pointed at Malik. "Frog, untie her."

"W-what? Just like that?" Agate stammered as the salarian moved to obey, allowing the young asari to rub at her now unbound wrists.

Swallowing the last of her beer and setting the glass upside down on the table, she nodded. "Just like that. Despite everything, we still have a job to do: protect this woman while she's here in Nos Astra. And since her hotel might well be crawling with the rest of your equally trigger-happy playmates, we have to regroup. Which means, in no uncertain terms, we're goin' to Aunt Elena's."

"What?! We can't just drop on my aunt like this! Surely there must be a better way." Moreh demanded, her high-pitched voice hinting at how appalled by the idea she was.

Annoyed again, Terri scowled at her friend. "Unless you can think of a secluded area where we can safely secure an aging matriarch from her own goon squad who may or may not be corrupt as hell, I'm all ears." Moreh remained silent, clearly unable to come up with a response good enough. "No? Nothing? I thought not. Frog, you're driving." Terri once again declared, getting to her feet and heading for the door, the scrap of chairs against the metal bulkheads telling her they were practically racing to follow.

"Okay." Malik called from somewhere in the back, Moreh likely too stunned to say anything.

Satisfied by this, Terri paused at the door only to say. "Let's get going before anything else happens...and hope your aunt doesn't mind that I get blood on her carpet."

Safe to say, the drive to Moreh's aunt Elena's was a relatively quiet one, with Agate shoved into the back with Uzi between her and Terri. In the front, Malik and Moreh navigated to the asari's apartment, saying little save where to go and where to land the car to get out. Like all asari designed buildings, the apartment complex was lavish as it was clean, complete with a guard at the front door who let them in using the code Moreh had received from her aunt. Terri, who was still covered in blood and bullet holes, didn't even glance at the poor asari who openly gaped at her condition but clearly knew better than to question it. Particularly when Uzi asked for her silence on the matter before they all huddled into the elevator to head up to the seventh floor where Elena was staying. Lucky for them, the halls were empty and rather than open the door, Moreh merely activated the console. Seconds later a gentle chime in the home went off, barely audible to Terri's relief. _It's bad enough my own people still have doorbells._ She thought as a voice sounded off from the speaker next to the door she recognized from earlier that day.

"_Khar'kova residence._" She said politely, the words almost mechanical.

"Hello Auntie." Moreh stated to the voice, wringing her hands nervously.

"_Moreh! I was wondering when I'd hear from you. How did the job go?_" Elena asked with sudden vigor at hearing her niece's voice.

"Yes, the job…about that…" Moreh half murmured, shifting where she stood as she tried to think of exactly what to say.

Elena's reaction was almost immediate to Moreh's hesitation, anger flaring up with disbelief wrapped in it. "_You didn't blow it off to be with an asari did you?!_"

Jumping at the asari's tone, Moreh jumped, her words fumbling from her suit speakers as she responded. "What? No! That was one time! And I already said sorry about the tattoo."

"You got a tattoo?" Malik asked from the back of their small crowd, to which Moreh nodded shakily.

Like most things, this caught Terri's interest, eyebrows raised in question. "Wow, really? Where?"

"In the lower part…near the bottom of the ward." The quarian told her, too saddened by the fact she was running to her family for help, _again_, to be suspicious of the question.

"No, on your body." Terri stated, frowning at the answer.

Though it was hard to see, her scowl was easy to hear when Moreh shot back. "What did you think I meant?"

"Believe it or not, finding a good artist is really fuckin' hard Moreh." Terri muttered, Elena's voice cutting off any chance of response.

"_Why don't you come inside?_"

Shocked, Moreh turned back to the speaker, desperate now to warn her beloved aunt of the drastic changes that surrounded her. "No, wait Auntie! I have something-!"

"_Why don't you tell me once you're inside?_"

"But-!" Moreh tried to finish but the speaker turned off, the console on the door shifting to show the person on the other side was undoing the lock.

"This is gonna be fun." Terri snickered, obviously having no pity of her friend at all.

"She's going to kill me! Twice over if she's in the mood!" Moreh said in a low wail, cutting through their small group to throw herself at Malik. "Hold me!"

"Would you stop that!?" the salarian bit out, keeping his voice down so not to disturb anyone who might be at home but still sounded infuriated at his situation.

"What stage of grief is this?" Uzi asked, while Agate seemed too stunned to do anything but watch Malik struggle with the miserable quarian practically strangling him.

Rolling her eyes, Terri kept her gaze on the door, hoping would open sometimes this century so she could finally get a much needed shower. "It's not grief. I think she's just using it as an excuse to fondle him."

"I never knew a quarian could feel attracted to a salarian. This day has unfolded most strangely." Uzi remarked, the matriarch trying to seem unmoved by the odd display.

"Don't they all?" Terri said drolly, glancing back at the pair as Malik was finally able to get the quarian off long enough to catch his breath and glare at her for not helping. "She's always been like this. She likes asari too."

Not even bothering to look, Uzi nodded. "This I already knew."

"Big surprise." Was Terri's equally dry reply.

Finally the door opened, revealing Elena still in the dress she had on that morning though Terri noted that her eyes once brown were now blue. Still, the asari smiled at the sight of her quarian niece, the expression wavering at seeing she was surrounded by a small crowd of people. "Make yourselves at home."

"Thanks. Sorry about the blood." Terri stated casually as she moved to walk past the asari and into the apartment, careful not to get any blood on the woman's pristine dress. "Getting shot at doesn't leave much room for personal hygiene."

"What blood—MY CARPET!" Elena exclaimed in horror when she looked down to see Terri's armored boots treading the dark liquid across her cream colored carpets. Confused, Elena turned to get an answer from Moreh only to freeze upon seeing someone much more unexpected. "And… Matriarch Uzi?"

Bowing at her hostess, Uzi seemed to be attempting to go the more polite route as she followed Terri in, with Moreh, Malik and Agate not far behind. Smiling kindly, the matriarch spoke in her regal tone. "I apologize for arriving unannounced but I assure you coming here was not my original intent."

"I-I'm honored to have you, if for a time." Elena returned the bow awkwardly, turning her now furious gaze onto her niece who now had no means to escape when the door hissed shut behind them. "Moreh, what in the name of the Goddess is going on!?"

"Before you kill her ever so brutally, where's your bathroom?" Terri called from the far side of the room, having clearly found the hallway leading to the rest of the apartment.

"Three doors down on the right." Elena called back, her brilliant eyes not looking away from her niece's masked face and trembling form.

"Auntie, I can explain." Moreh said weakly, hoping that she would get the chance to even speak before her aunt unleashed her unspeakable fury onto her.

Smooth face marred by an angry scowl, Elena crossed her arms. "I'm waiting."

It took Moreh perhaps a half hour to complete her tale of what had occurred since meeting her aunt that morning at the docks, her long-winded explanation giving cause to her air filter needing to be changed at least twice before she finally finished. Hanging her head in shame, Moreh could feel the wrath of her aunt emanating from the asari's body. Nervous for her aunt's reaction, Moreh broke the silence that'd fallen over the room. "…and that's when we came here."

Elena rubbed her temples as she tried to decipher all her niece had told her. It had been a pleasant surprise to learn the quarian was on Ilium for a visit and potential work but in the few short hours they'd been apart, the young woman had landed herself in heaps of trouble. Not only were there strangers like she'd never seen in her home but a matriarch to boot. The salarian she now knew to be Malik was sitting on the couch with the oddly nervous asari named Agate and the human Terri had yet to reappear from the bathroom. It certainly didn't help said human, fully armored and covered in blood had shamelessly trailed bloody shoe prints across her pristine carpets, the dark splotches already filling the room with a mild aroma of copper. Matriarch Uzi was already lounging in one of the living room chairs, obviously drained of energy. Finally she settled in sky blue eyes on her dark-suited niece, who was still wringing her hands anxiously. Letting out a tired sigh, she finally spoke. "Let me get this straight: you and your friends were on this job only for it all to go wrong, leaving an entire merc squad dead and you on the trail of a potentially corrupt justicar...and you came here?"

"Y-yes. W-well it was Terri's idea! She said it would be safer for the matriarch if she didn't go back to her hotel or any place she'd normally go! ...And now here we are." Moreh stated, bowing her head in shame. "I'm so sorry Auntie...I've gotten you involved in something terrible."

"No, no we can work this out. Why don't you and your friends wait here while I get you all something to eat? You must be hungry." Elena said as she moved past her niece to weave through the room towards the kitchen, careful not to step on the blood prints cutting through her home.

From the chair, this was enough to bring some energy back to the matriarch as she smiled kindly. "That would be most kind, thank you."

"If it's not too much trouble." Malik responded while Agate only nodded, the young asari having not said anything since appearing with the others.

Relieved things were returning to what she was used to, Elena found herself smiling as well. "No, it's perfectly fine. Though I think you all are in enough trouble as it is. Let me just-oh!" She exclaimed suddenly.

Everyone turned to look, finding Terri had reappeared in a dark t-shirt and jeans, her bare feet having allowed her to move quietly. Her hair looked a shade darker from all the water still clinging to it, the dark brown locks brushed and pulled back in a tail near the top of her neck. Ice blue eyes did a quick scan of the room before she nodded approvingly. "Hey. Looks like no one died so that's good."

"What are you doing?" Elena demanded, having noticed the human woman had a bowl from her kitchen in one hand and a rag in the other. The contents of the bowl looked like watery paint, stinking of eggs and alcohol.

Blinking, Terri glanced down at the bowl before responding. "Getting the blood off your carpet." A frown settled on her face, as if mildly puzzled. "Why? Were you saving those eggs for something important?"

"I-No I wasn't but...where's your armor?" Elena forced herself, dearly wishing this whole situation made more sense.

"In your tub. Couldn't get all the blood off, so I'm gonna have to go back in for a second round." The human responded with almost unending bluntness, turning away to command the others. "Aggy! Go and bath while Moreh finds you something to wear so I can clean your armor too. Frog...you look clean so you're gonna have to wait your turn. Uzi can read a magazine or somethin' while we get things sorted out."

"I could help with the carpet since I'm in here." Malik offered, getting to his feet along with Agate, who moved toward the hall to the bathroom with Moreh not that far behind.

Terri nodded, approving of this. "Good, go grab another rag so we can get started. And since you're takin' food orders, I'll take anything that tastes somewhat like chicken if you have it or a good substitute if you don't."

"I can do that just-can you at least explain to me what you're doing?" Elena asked, annoyed that this human was doing what she wanted just like all of her kind.

This got Terri frowning again, irritation blooming on her face at the question. "I already told you, I'm getting the blood off your carpet. And if that fails, you can always get a pro crew to come in here or just replace it. Easy. Why is that so hard to understand?"

Thankfully, Moreh came almost running back to defuse the growing confrontation, hoping to distract the two alpha females from butting heads. "Why don't we get started on that food Auntie? Give them room to clean this up. Perhaps the Lady Uzi would like to help?"

"Actually I'd enjoy that. It's been so long since I was in a kitchen." Uzi declared as she moved to follow, leaving Terri and Malik alone to begin cleaning up the blood. Malik wanted to say something but from the way Terri practically attacked each print with a vengeance, forcing them from existence...he resolved that talking might be a bad idea.

As the trio of women ventured into the kitchen, Moreh finally noticed something amiss with her aunt. "Auntie, why are your eyes blue?"

"What? Oh, the icontact program must still be on." Elena muttered, activating her omni-tool and pressing a few holographic buttons. Whatever she did, did the trick for when she blinked quickly a few times, her eyes had returned to their natural earth brown. Looking at her niece, she asked. "There, better?"

Moreh nodded, though her curiosity was evident. "Yes."

"Sorry about that, I was trying something." Elena told them, smiling bashfully.

Violet orbs narrowed in curiosity and suspicion, Uzi watched her carefully. "For what reason?"

"Oh…I uh, I met someone." Elena told the matriarch, looking away long enough to pull frozen varren meat from the freezer of her double fridge to put in the sink to defrost. "A human who said I looked better with blue eyes."

"What? But what about Kenn?" Moreh exclaimed, having also invaded the fridge for some vegetables, handing some to the matriarch to put in the second sink to be rinsed.

Elena shook her head, her smile as weak as her words. "We're on a break. It's nothing to be worried about. We seem to have enough problems as it is."

"But why make such a change?" Uzi inquired as she took the items in her grip to the sink, not at all bothered that bits of dirt still on them got onto her dress.

At that, Elena hesitated. "I'm…hoping to settle soon."

"You've lost me." Moreh told them from her spot at the cabinets, pulled out bowls and pots they would need for their task.

Uzi's eyes flashed with epiphany, her face taking on a sad air. "I believe your aunt is close to her matron stage, am I correct?"

Jumping with shock, Moreh abandoned her task to stand by her aunt, who appeared as morose as she'd been not even an hour before. "But why not get with Kenn? Granny and I love him, plus he loves and respects you!"

"Who is still on his pilgrimage and told me he might be going back soon! Maybe even settle with a quarian girl." Elena all but spat out, her pale blue lip quivering with emotion.

"Did you even ask him?" the matriarch shot back with little hesitation.

Elena faltered, scowling at the question. "No I—isn't that what quarians are supposed to do? Go back, pick a ship and find someone?"

"That's definitely not what I did." Moreh stated more to the room than anyone.

Barely glancing at the quarian, Uzi gripped the younger asari's shoulder so that she looked up to meet her gaze. "Little one, do you love him?"

"I do...I really do. I mean what's not to love about him? I mean he's really good at programming, he makes killer levo and dextro drinks, he nice and respects me, he's good with SMG like a commando and...Oh my Goddess he has such pretty eyes...But..." she hesitated, her eyes tearing up as she fought down the emotions roiling inside her.

"Yet it is clear you feel the same, why not say so?" Uzi countered, her lips pressed together in disapproval though her eyes were soft.

Tears streaking down her face, Elena seemed to break down as she finally came to terms with the truth of her situation. "It's just hard. No matter what he's going to go back to the fleet and I don't want any children we might have be without their father."

Nodding sagely at this response, Uzi stayed firm. "Then let me be clear: do you love the human you are seeing now?"

Blinking at the question, Elena frowned as she shook her head, wiping away some of her tears with her hands. "No, not really."

"Then why sacrifice happiness only to feel sorrow?"

Stunned, Elena could only stare. "I-."

"When my sister bonded with a salarian, I told her one thing: it's better to have love and loss than none at all, even if it'll be for forty years." At that, Uzi smiled kind and soft. "Love, and the happiness it brings, is in itself a trial of hardships. You shall see that what you risk is worth the reward."

"Thank you milady I-." Sniffling and blinking away the last of her tears, her voice more stable now, Elena avoided their eyes as she moved to leave the room. "I have a call to make. Excuse me."

Watching the asari leave in hurried steps, Moreh filled the quiet that was left in her wake, gazing at the matriarch with a sad look. "You would know quite a bit about that wouldn't you?"

Nodding slowly, Uzi spoke in soft tones. "Being a justicar, I sacrificed many things I took for granted during my maiden and matron years. If I can offer some advice or guidance for others, then I know in some way that I have helped them achieve happiness."

"Keelah, I can't imagine what that was like." Moreh said in hushed words, reaching out to touch the matriarch, who only gently pushed her hand away.

"Do not pity me or offer me condolences young one. I know the sacrifices I made and to this day I do not regret them."

After a moment, Moreh nodded. "I understand. We should get started before this meat spoils."

"Agreed." Uzi returned, the two moving almost in unison to get dinner started, only guessing on what they were making until Elena came back.

To Terri's sensitive ears, the conversation happening in the kitchen was straight out of a crappy human soap opera though thankfully Elena's phone call to her quarian boyfriend was muffled by the walls of her room and the door when it shut behind her. Agate reappeared wearing what looked like an older shirt and pant set that fit onto her slender form, only for Terri to send her into the kitchen. Green eyes still eying her with a wary look, the young asari quickly obeyed, leaving her and Malik by themselves. At some point, Elena came back out of her room, her brown eyes bright with undeniable joy and relief as she too went into the kitchen. Getting all the blood prints out of the carpet took only close to an hour even though the life water threatened to stick in the few places it'd started to dry faster. In the end, the pair were glad to be done, Terri bidding Malik to go join the others in the kitchen while she disposed of the concoction and finished her work in the bathroom. Relieved to be away from the still quite irritated human, Malik didn't hesitate to obey, smiling when he saw that the atmosphere there was brighter than it'd been anywhere the past few hours. His sensitive nose quickly picked up spices while his hearing was bombarded with the light pop of roasting meat.

"Everything okay in here?" he asked, moving to the sink to wash his hands of the blood and concoction Terri had made.

"We're okay. Just girl stuff." Moreh responded innocently, the smile the asari shared indicating at something deeper but he decided not to question it.

Instead he switched subjects. "How's the food coming? Terri seemed pretty annoyed."

Moreh's opaque orbs rolled from beneath her mask, an amused chuckle coming from the speaker on her suit. "She's always irritated by something, trust me. You'll find she's rarely happy with anything."

"I was wondering the same of her. I don't presume to know humans well but this one seems to be most curious." Uzi piped in, giving the young quarian a curious stare. "Where did you find her?"

"In jail. For something she actually didn't do if you can believe that. She definitely wasn't pleased by the experience either." Moreh stated, falling back on Terri's blunt approach, knowing the human would respond the same way. "We spent maybe three days in the same cell waiting for our paperwork to go through for our release and she's been with me since."

Uzi blinked, unable to keep her surprise hidden. "She has yet to depart?"

Moreh hesitated, shifting in place sheepishly. "Actually we didn't see each other for a full week after our release. Ironically she came back when she saw me being harassed by a C-Sec officer with a 'random body search'."

"What happened?" Elena asked, appearing shocked that her niece had been targeted by such bigoted people.

"I thought she was going to beat him to death but she just started spewing out all this legal stuff, most of which went over my head and when that didn't work she beat him bloody prior to carting me off before he or his partner could protest. She says she only sticks around to 'make sure I don't get killed for no reason' or something. That was maybe a year ago." the quarian told them, not all that surprised by the awed stares she got in return.

"And yet in every message you've sent me, you've only labeled her as 'a friend'. Why?" Elena queried, making her niece shift nervously again.

"Because I told her to." Terri's gruff voice sounded off as the human came into the room, sniffing at the air before smiling approvingly. "Varren huh? Smells good."

"Thank you." Elena responded, off-balance by the human's reappearance into her now very cramped kitchen. Of all the different species, humans were by far the most unpredictable, so she tread lightly in asking. "Are you finished in the bathroom?"

"Not quite. Still need to clean up all the blood and give Ms. Former Eclipse here a better, less flashy paint job. Don't worry, I plan on opening a window and shutting the door." Terri stated casually, as if she were talking about the weather.

From near the table, Moreh stared at the human in confusion. "Since when do you paint?"

Terri remained silent for a moment before replying. "Art class."

"What? When?" the quarian demanded, sounding surprised she hadn't known this.

"As a kid, school, college. Didn't bother makin' a career of it. Beer?" Terri asked, looking around as she headed right for the fridge.

Finally fed up with her behavior but making no move to prevent the human from taking another levo-beer from her fridge, Elena scowled at her. "Didn't your parents teach you anything about manners?"

"I'm sure they would've...if I knew who they were or if they cared I existed. Humans consider most living areas to be public except the bed and bathrooms meant to be private to visitors unless invited. We'll be here a while so we can always restock anything we use up while we're here. Speaking of which, probably wise someone takes Aggy shopping for a better gun than that crappy pistol she shot me with." Terri explained, sounding ever casual about it all as she popped the bottle open to take a swig, humming in mild satisfaction at the taste of it.

Standing up straighter, Elena all but shouted in sudden panic. "Y-you were shot?! And you didn't tell anyone?"

"Auntie don't-!" Moreh tried to say as her aunt dove forward before anyone could stop her, lifting the human's shirt to reveal fair skin covering a smooth stomach, muscled and practically flawless. At the counter, Agate looked horrified while Uzi and Malik shared Elena's open-jawed stare of shock.

They all stood frozen while Elena merely stood there, brown eyes desperately searching for any wounds on the human's body. "W-where are they? There must be one somewhere! Why else would there be blood on my floors?"

A dark look came over Terri's face, her voice taking on a dry tone as she gently pulled the edges of her shirt from the asari's grip. "Technically, your floors are clean now but you should probably still have a crew have a look if you want to be sure." Turning away, she spoke in a cold voice as she left the room, uncaring of the shock on their faces. "Call me when the food's ready. I'll be on the couch."

That was close! I know, my girl Terri has a temper but I plan on mellowing her out at some point. She's angry for a reason. Come on back next month for another dose of action, adventure and gunfighting fun when we return with:

**_Chapter 4: Bad Dreams, Leave Me Be!_**


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